Several pro-Israel groups have come out in support of President Donald Trump’s push to expel and exile students to participate in the pro-Palestinian protests on US campuses.
One of the most prominent of them is Betar Us, a group that says it shares the names of Palestinian protesters with the Trump administration.
The Trump administration is a graduate and activist Mahmoud Khalil from Columbia University in Palestinian, and an Indian postdoctoral scholar at Georgetown University in Badar Khan Sri, who is about to deport them.
Trump has pledged to deport students who protest Israel’s war with Gaza last year and demanded that American universities sell from Israel-related companies.
So what are us, why are they promoting the deportation of Palestinian protesters, what criticisms it has faced, and what other groups support Trump’s moves against the campus protests?
What are we?
Betar US was a branch of Betar, a Zionist youth movement founded by Zeev Jabotinsky in 1923, promoting the idea of powerful Jewish militarism and territorial expansion. The group says it has branches all over the world, including chapters across the United States.
“Our movement has changed courses in the Jewish world. We are the fastest growing Zionist movement in the world, with over 35 chapters, including Europe, Latin America, Australia and the United States.”
“We are loud, proud, aggressive, forced Zionists. We are not lovely, polite Jews who are Zionists we are loud and proud,” the group said on its website.
Zionism is a nationalist and political ideology derived from 19th century Europe, which sought the creation of a Jewish state.
Betar US works “on campus, on the city, on the media, on the business community and on the streets,” according to its website.
However, critics have questioned the Gulf Coast between the bold advocacy of the group’s views and limited information about Betar US leaders and members available on public platforms, including its website.
Jenin Yunes, a civil and free speech lawyer, said the secret is “unusual.”
“They claim to be loud and proud,” she said. “However their website doesn’t say who their employees are. That’s somewhat unusual for nonprofits that have received nonexemption status from New York.”
“They suggest they are trying to protect themselves from accountability,” Younes said.
But we Better rejected the suggestion that there is anything to hide. “U.S. Better is a 501C3 nonprofit organization and is fully compliant with all rules, regulations and applications,” Levy told Al Jazeera.
Who is targeting us?
Since protests on campus broke out last year, Betar US has had doxx protests. “We’ve given his name to the government!” Better posted on X in January, referring to Halil.
In the same X-thread, the group posted a video of Halil interviewing him, accusing him of saying, “The Zionists don’t deserve to live while they’re on their visas.” But in the clip shared by Betar Us, Khalil doesn’t say that.
Two days after Khalil was arrested, Betar Us posted a message to X. There, they openly declared their intention to be expelled from pro-Palestinian students. In a widely shared post, the group said: “We are working on deportation and we have told you we will continue. Hopefully natural citizens will start picking up within a month.”
In a statement to Al Jazeera, he confirmed that Better’s levy “provided hundreds of names to the Trump administration of visa holders, as well as the naturalized Middle East and foreigners.”
“Those who come to the United States as visas or naturalized citizens and encourage hatred and violence will be deported,” Levy said.
The group also argues that those targeting the list are anti-Semitic. However, many civil rights groups have raised concerns in recent months that pro-Israel groups and their supporters have confused criticism of Israel and Zionism with anti-Semitism, saying they are hindering freedom of speech in the United States and other countries.
“Betar US is a nonprofit organization here in the United States,” Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), told Al Jazeera. “However, they are engaged in aggressive forms of harassment and chasing First Amendment rights. [which grants free speech]. ”
Ayoub calls Betar Us “a problematic entity that is causing a lot of concern.”
What did we say in Gaza?
The group has openly called for blood in the besieged and bombarded Gaza Strip, where Israel resumed its catastrophic war. In a now-deleted post, Betar Us responded to a list of names that included hundreds of Palestinian babies killed in the enclave, saying, “Not enough. I’ll ask for blood in Gaza!”
Better is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that openly flys the flag of Kahanism, a Jewish terrorist movement, and receives tax-deductible donations while inciting violence outside of mosques and protests.
The Kach Party, labelled terrorist group by the US in 2004, was abolished just for the sake of …pic.twitter.com/t5xr0dhqie
– Pvt (@propvstrutth) March 11, 2025
On Tuesday, Israel launched a pound-dawn strike in Gaza after the collapse of talks in the second phase of the ceasefire, killing more than 400 people, including 174 children and women. Israel has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. After Hamas attacked in Israel, the brutal Israeli response remains in Gaza after killing 1,139 people and taking around 250 prisoners of war.
Betar’s social media accounts have repeatedly posted messages calling for violence and expulsion of Palestinians from their land. In one post, the group said they “are firmly supportive of a plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza.”
Youth, a civil liberty lawyer, recalled in a post in January on X, that Betar Us said he confused the vigil of Hind Rajab, a six-year-old girl who was killed by Israeli forces in Gaza last year.
Betar US was named the “extremist group” by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish advocacy group founded more than a century ago to combat anti-Semitism.
However, Levi said in a statement to Al Jazeera that the group is a “mainstream” Zionist organization and represents “a large portion of the Zionists and Israeli masses.”
Levi has rejected ADL’s labeling of Better as “extremist.” ADL is a “radical, left-wing, awakened” organization, he said. “Everyone who calls Betard’s extremists calls Zionist extremism,” he said.
Does Betar Us support Trump’s deportation plan?
Completely, that says.
“People who come to the US on a visa or as naturalized citizens have no right to attend Hamas events or to support terrorist organizations,” Levy said. “We support the Trump administration’s policies.”
But Trump administration officials have yet to release evidence linking detained people, including Khalil, to those detained in support of other organisations listed as US “terrorist” groups.
Halil, who was filed at a Louisiana detention facility, said Tuesday that he was a “political prisoner” in his first comment since his arrest by a Homeland Security Officer on March 8th.
On March 7, before his arrest, Halil had emailed Katrina Armstrong, interim president of Columbia University.
UNES, a free speech lawyer, said the arrest “speaks to the pure madness and horror of the present moment.”
Meanwhile, Better hopes the Trump administration will do more.
“I thank the Trump administration, but I urge them to expel more and faster,” Levy said.
Are there other groups that support Trump crackdown?
Yes, but in a different range.
ADL – The group calls campus protests anti-Semitism and supports Trump’s executive order to combat anti-Semitism on campus. However, it did not publicly support the deportation campaign. College Mother Against Anti-Semitism (MACA) – The group has welcomed Trump’s executive order, claiming to fight against anti-Semitism on university campuses. He supports the deportation of other pro-Palestinian activists who he describes as supporters of Halil and Hamas. Canary Mission – “An online database that documents individuals and organizations promoting the US, Israel and Jews, such as on university campuses in North America. It publishes personal information about people and institutions that consider anti-Israel or anti-Semitic. It welcomed Khalil’s arrest and called for the arrest of more students and faculty.
Is Trump’s planned deportation legal?
The legality of Trump’s deportation threat is highly controversial.
According to ADC’s Ayoub, Trump’s deportation order is technically enforceable. The administration has the authority to revoke visas for international students under certain conditions. That is, experts say whether a person is engaged in fraud or is seen as a threat to national security.
However, Younes argued that the initial amendments to the US Constitution “does not distinguish between applications based on immigration status,” and that these deportations were “illegal.”
Halil’s lawyers approached the court to stop him from being deported.
More broadly, civil rights groups are wary of what is perceived as a free speech crackdown protected under the First Amendment.
Ayoub said the university has a responsibility to protect students.
“Universities must support the rights of all students to exercise their First Amendment rights to freedom of expression. They cannot denigrate students or spread information about them,” Ayub said.
He warned that the situation would be too afraid of students to speak up, creating a “cold effect” that would affect not only Palestinian activists but all other activists.
Osama Abuyarseed, executive director of Palestinian American Muslims, reflected similar concerns, saying the university is “fully surrendering to pressure from the big donors and the Trump administration.”
“These are some of the most challenging times to become a student of conscience and global citizenship,” he told Al Jazeera.
Free speech lawyer Youth said Trump’s executive order was in effect and that groups like Betar US, which target foreigners in particular, should seek lawyers just before engaging in Palestinian activities.
“Unfortunately, the safest thing to do is stay silent,” she said.
