The militant pro-Israel group Betar US has agreed to halt its operations in New York in a settlement with state Attorney General Letitia James, whose office found that the group had committed a “campaign of violence, harassment, and intimidation against Arab, Muslim, and Jewish New Yorkers.”
The settlement announced Tuesday followed a months-long investigation into Betar US triggered by “multiple complaints and public reports about Betar’s violence against and harassment of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Jewish activists,” James’s office said.
The investigation found that Betar encouraged its followers to bring weapons to pro-Palestinian protests, trespassed onto private property to steal Palestinian flags and followed and struck people wearing keffiyehs. The group boasted on social media about its activities, including incidents of violence, a practice that the settlement agreement notes.
The settlement agreement details inflammatory social media posts that demeaned and called for violence against Palestinians in Gaza. It also notes that the group forced beepers onto people who appeared Muslim or Jewish and supported the Palestinian cause — a reference to Israel’s exploding pager operation that targeted Hezbollah in September 2024.
The investigation also found that the group harassed and threatened Jewish academics and other Jews who “profess views Betar deems not aligned with their vision of Judaism or Israel.”
Overall, James’ office found that Betar US violated civil rights regulations by harassing people who were exercising their constitutional right to protest.
As part of the settlement, Betar US agreed to “immediately cease instigating or encouraging violence against individuals, threatening protesters, and harassing individuals exercising their civil rights,” the language reads. The group is subject to a $50,000 fine if it violates the terms of the settlement within the next three years, during which it must submit annual compliance reports.
New York Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a press conference at the office of the Attorney General on Dec. 15, 2025 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
“New York will not tolerate organizations that use fear, violence, and intimidation to silence free expression or target people because of who they are,” James said in a statement. “My office’s investigation uncovered an alarming and illegal pattern of bias-motivated harassment and violence designed to terrorize communities and shut down lawful protest.”
It was the first penalty handed down by a state law enforcement agency against Betar US since the group emerged as an exemplar of aggressive, truculent pro-Israel counter-protests in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attacks in Israel and subsequent war in Gaza.
The settlement agreement specifies that Betar does not admit or deny any of the findings, and in its own statement the group denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Founded in 2024 as an homage to a militant Zionist group in pre-state Israel, the group says it will continue as a global entity but will no longer operate in New York, where a large portion of its activities had previously been concentrated.
In texts to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Ronn Torossian, a public relations executive and founder of Betar Worldwide who attested in the settlement that he now lives in Israel, said the organization had sought to disband its New York operations since last March.
CEO 5W Public Relations Ronn Torossian speaks during 5WPR 15th Anniversary Event at Catch Rooftop on June 14, 2017 in New York City. In 2024 Torossian relaunched the Zionist group Betar in the United States. (Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for DuJour)
“We urge all Zionist nonprofits to disband in NYC,” Torossian wrote via WhatsApp, a perspective also echoed by Betar’s social media accounts following the settlement announcement, in which the group stated, “NY stands with Palestine. We advise all Zionist organizations to disband in the state of NY.”
Torossian also shared a longer statement from Betar spokesperson Daniel Levy defending the group’s approach to Zionist activism and linking its activities to spiritual founder Ze’ev Jabotinsky.
“Betar is mainstream Zionism, and is an organization without which the State of Israel would not exist,” Levy said in a statement to (JEWISH REVIEW). “We urge Zionists to come home to Israel.”
As the group has encouraged its followers to “fight back” against pro-Palestinian demonstrators in New York, it has drawn followers and received support, including from the celebrity musician Matisyahu.
But it has also faced criticism from mainstream Jewish organizations over its tactics to fight antisemitism, which have included identifying pro-Palestinian protesters for the Trump administration to deport. In at least one case, according to a federal judge, a Betar social media post directly led to a pro-Palestinian protester’s detention. (The settlement agreement said Betar maintained it had not employed the facial recognition software it had previously boasted of using to identify protesters.)
A scene from a pro-Israel counterprotest to a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside a synagogue in Borough Park, Brooklyn, that was endorsed by Betar US and includes a Jewish Defense League flag. (Screenshot via X)
In February, the group was added to the Anti-Defamation League’s extremism database after Torossian attempted to confront a gathering of establishment Jewish groups in Israel. Torossian was also briefly barred from the World Zionist Congress over a vicious dispute with rival pro-Israel activist Shai Davidai, but he was later permitted to serve as a delegate.
“As a Zionist activist who has been personally targeted by @Betar_USA and its founder Ronn Torossian, I can say that this is long overdue,” Davidai wrote on X following the settlement announcement. He added that it was “time to do the same” for Within Our Lifetime, a radical pro-Palestinian group active in New York.
The ADL did not immediately return a request for comment.
Rabbi Elchanan Poupko, a Connecticut-based rabbi formerly with Park East Synagogue in New York, defended Betar and criticized the settlement on X.
“Banning @Betar_USA while continuing to give legal permits to Brownshirts protesting outside synagogues makes no sense,” Poupko wrote, referring to recent far-left anti-Israel protesters who have demonstrated outside synagogues in the city — including some last week who vocally supported Hamas.
The attorney general’s office said that it initially launched their investigation into Betar US in March, shortly after the group allegedly urged supporters to “fight back” against “terrorists” and urged followers to bring pit bulls to a counterprotest against pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Brooklyn. Violent clashes broke out between the two groups at that protest.
Vdeos and images shared by the Betar US social media account in February 2025 that helped lead the Anti-Defamation League to add the group to their glossary of extremism include (l-r) a video of a man yelling profane remarks at a New York mosque; a video of comedian Michael Rapaport praising Rabbi Meir Kahane; and a post praising the Proud Boys. (Screenshots via X)
Betar US is incorporated as a nonprofit in Katonah, New York, and solicits donations but never registered with the attorney general’s Charities Bureau, according to the settlement.
In a statement to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Levy said the group was incorporated in Delaware — a common practice for nonprofits — and emphasized its operations in Israel. “Betar maintains global headquarters in Metzudat Ze’ev, Beit Jabotinsky in Tel Aviv,” he said. “Prime Minister Netanyahu maintains a personal office in the building.”
He insisted the group would remain active despite the shutdown in New York..
“Nobody can dictate to us from the diaspora what is legitimate Zionism or not,” Levy said. “We will continue to serve the people of Israel, in the Land of Israel, as citizens of the State of Israel.”
