The New York Attorney General's Office announced on Tuesday that Betar US was ending its New York operations as part of a settlement for persecution of protected groups, yet the legal action has also highlighted a tolerance and lack of will to address radical anti-Israel groups terrorizing the state. If such powerful legal tools exist to prevent the harassment and intimidation of groups, Jewish New Yorkers must be left to wonder why they haven't been applied to radical anti-Israel groups as well.
New York Attorney General Letitia James said that her office had uncovered evidence that Betar US had engaged in widespread persecution of Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, and Jewish New Yorkers in violation of civil rights laws.
Under threat of a $50,000 fine, the organization must cease instigating or encouraging violence, threatening protesters, or harassing individuals. This is in addition to the group "winding down" operations in New York and dissolving its non-profit corporation status in the state.
The case against Betar US rested on state legislation against bias-related violence or intimidation. Those who select a person or property for harm, subject people to harassment by following them in public or committing actions that place others in reasonable fear of injury, due to their immutable characteristics, have violated Section 79 N.
The issue is not if Betar US was guilty of any of the allegations against it; the organization has indeed engaged in extreme activities that have brought it to clash not only with anti-Israel groups but also with the majority of pro-Israel and Jewish groups in the city. The issue is that since the October 7 Massacre, Jews and Israelis have been subjected to a campaign of persecution far more widespread by numerous organizations. Citizens have called out for relief from these organizations that have continued to operate despite all manner of intimidation, harassment, and encouragement for violence.
A member of Betar's national leadership struck a woman in one protest, celebrating that incident and others. It had reportedly encouraged and promoted violence, according to the OAG, urging supporters to "fight back." The OAG said that such actions indicated that the group had assaulted others based on their statuses. In 2022, Saadah Masoud attended a Within Our Lifetime rally and attacked a man wearing an Israeli flag, punching and kicking him while he lay on the ground. Masoud was convicted of attacking three victims based on their religion and national origin in 2021 and 2022.
Tarek Bazrouk was sentenced in 2025 for three assaults of Jewish residents in NYC from 2024 and 2025, including at a protest organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), and has been championed by Palestinian Youth Movement NYC, NYC Students for Justice in Palestine chapters, Palestinian Assembly for Liberation (PAL)-Awda NY/NJ, who have called for his release. They defended Bazrouk, arguing he was being imprisoned for "activism." CUAD, SJP Columbia, and Jewish Voice for Peace Columbia have praised serial arsonist Casey Goonan, who set fire to a UC Berkeley Police Department vehicle and attempted to firebomb an Oakland federal building in 2024, with CUAD standing in "full support" of the domestic terrorist and " all of our comrades who have bravely undertaken the call to escalate for Palestine." Some NY-based organizations, such as Bronx Anti-War Coalition, signed a Tariq El-Tahrir Youth and Student Network petition backing Washington DC Israeli embassy staff murderer Elias Rodriguez, stating his actions were "morally righteous."
Reasonable fear of injury
The OAG found that Betar US activists followed individuals in public places because of their background, putting them in reasonable fear of injury. Jewish and Israelis have repeatedly been followed and harassed by activists during protests and counter-protests, such as in April 2024, when protesters associated with Columbia University groups followed Students Supporting Israel Columbia activists and taunted them with calls of "Jews" and told them to "go back to Poland." Activists have gathered around synagogues and community centers repeatedly, at the behest of PAL-Awda NY/NJ. New Yorkers attending the November Israeli immigration event at the New York City Park East Synagogue were harassed and heckled as they attempted to enter and leave, with some protesters chanting "death to the IDF."
Such chants are far from the most radical encouragement of violence that anti-Israel groups have made in NY. Betar was condemned by the OAG for celebrating violence against Palestinians, including mocking civilian deaths, expressing hate toward Gazans, and calling for more bloodshed. WOL and other groups have openly supported the October 7 Massacre, arguing on the day of the attack that it would "support Palestinian resistance in all its forms. By any means necessary. With no exceptions and no fine print." WOL protested the Nova massacre exhibit in August 2024, Kiswani dismissing the victims on X as ravers next to a concentration camp. One sign at the protest reportedly said that "Zionists are not Jews and not humans." These groups have repeatedly called for violence, including abroad against Israeli civilians. This was done not simply with calls of "intifada" but with instances of open support of terrorist organizations and their actions, such as at an April 2024 WOL protest.
"Abu Ubaida, our beloved," chanted the crowd led by WOL organizer Abdullah Akl. "Strike, Strike Tel Aviv."
Stealing and burning property has been enough to condemn Betar US, but the broader organizations whose activists have stolen and burned Israeli flags. In April 2024, James Carlson, a frequent of CUAD actions, stole an Israeli flag at a Columbia protest. The New York state law forbids damage to property based on the owner's characteristics, but vandalism has been a valued tactic in the anti-Israel movement. Kiswani defended graffiti and "direct action against Zionist institutions" after Park Slope's Miriam restaurant was defaced in January. WOL encouraged supporters to target the Brooklyn Museum and its leadership in 2024. Following the pronouncement, museum director Anne Pasternak’s home had been defaced with red inverted triangles used in Hamas propaganda to indicate the targeting. For some reason, such missives to take action are never held against such organizations.
These red triangles have become ubiquitous at anti-Israel protests, marches, and rallies, yet while it was deemed sufficient to accuse Betar of harassment to foist beepers on opponents in reference to the 2024 explosive beeper operation, the triangles that indicate a target for violence have not been held against anti-Israel groups. At a June 2024 rally at Baruch College, demonstrators formed triangles with their hands, pointing them at counter protesters. WOL placed a red triangle above the Brooklyn Museum in its campaign against the institution.
Betar was condemned for targeting those with a keffiyeh, but Masoud is just one of many anti-Israel activists who have targeted people over the years for carrying Israeli flags.
The extreme pro-Israel group was also condemned for infringing on the right to peacefully assemble -- but from the Nova exhibit to the Park East synagogue event, anything with any tint of Israeli connection has been demonstrated against and heckled in New York. Even an Israeli history class is a legitimate target for disruption, with activists associated with CUAD barging into a course in Barnard College last January.
The crackdown on these students has largely come from the federal government, pushing Columbia and other institutions to discipline them. Yet it is not only that activists who have engaged in damage, such as those in the occupation of Hamilton Hall, often have charges dropped against them; the organizations they represent are also never held accountable.
Jewish groups applauded Governor Kathy Hochul on Tuesday for proposing to create buffer zones around houses of worship, but this is the bare minimum. Jewish leaders should be demanding more, not simply collecting condemnations and treating each incident as isolated, but recognizing that there are organizations that engage in campaigns of terrorism against their community members.
If the legal tools exist, and they can be applied to marginal groups such as Betar, then Jewish leadership and the state of New York can also apply them to WOL and other anti-Israel groups. It is only a matter of will that has allowed complete impunity.