Beitar Jerusalem

Beitar Jerusalem
	Beitar Jerusalem
Basic data
Surname	Beitar Jerusalem Football Club
Seat	Jerusalem
founding	1936
president	Eli Tabib
Website	beitarfc.co.il
First soccer team
Head coach	Ronny Levy
Venue	Teddy stadium
Places	31,733
league	Ligat ha'Al
2019/2020	3rd place
home	Away

Beitar Jerusalem Football Club ( Hebrew מועדון כדורגל בית"ר ירושלים Mōadōn Kadūregel Beitár Yerushaláyim , also known as Beitar Yerushalayyim ) is an Israeli football club based in Jerusalem . Founded in the 1920s as part of the Betar movement, the association is very close to the conservative Likud party and has supporters, especially in the right-wing political spectrum. After US President Donald Trump relocated the US embassy to Jerusalem in May 2018, Beitar Jerusalem announced that it would include Trump in the club's name.

history

Early history

David Horn and Shmuel Kirschstein, supporters of Betar , decided to start a football team in 1936. Hadar (self-respect) and Hod (honor), as basic principles of the Betar movement, should also be the basic principles of this team. Therefore, the team initially consisted exclusively of Betar supporters. Due to the political entanglements with the revisionist party, there were clashes on the one hand with supporters of Hapoel Jerusalem , who were close to the Socialist Party at the time , and on the other hand with British authority, since Palestine was under a British mandate. Some members of Beitar Jerusalem were also with Irgun Tzwa'i Le'umi or Lechi , two underground military organizations that fought for independence from the British control power. Many players were therefore arrested and exiled to Eritrea or Kenya , but returned after the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948. In order to deny connections to the Irgun, David Horn renamed the team for a short time Nordia Jerusalem .

1950s / 1960s

Beitar started in the 1950s in the Bet League , Israel's second-highest division at the time. In 1953 they were promoted to the Aleph League , but the club had to relegate again after only one year. Although the 1958 championship in the Bet League succeeded , the league was restructured and Beitar remained in the league now renamed the Aleph League . The goal now was to move up to the newly created National League , the top division. In 1968 this goal was achieved.

The stormy 1970s

In 1975, Beitar made negative headlines: During a game against Hapoel Petakh Tiqwa , Beitar's supporters stormed the field and attacked Hapoel's players and fans. As a punishment, some home games had to be played in front of empty stands in other cities. A planned forced relegation was averted by the intervention of the Knesset MPs Jossi Sarid and Ehud Olmert from Likud . The following year the first major success came when the cup could be won 2-1 in the final against Maccabi Tel Aviv . In 1979 the success against the same opponent could be repeated with the same result.

The successful 1980s

In 1980, Beitar had to relegate bottom of the table, but quickly made it back up. In 1984 they played for the championship. A draw against Hapoel Tel Aviv on the last day of the match was enough . However, they lost and the title went to Maccabi Haifa . Since then, the followers of Hapoel Tel Aviv and Beitar have hated each other. 1985 succeeded in winning the cup again, which was repeated in 1986. In 1987, Beitar played the entire season in Tel Aviv at Bloomfield Stadium , but was still Israeli champions for the first time in the club's history. In 1989 they reached the cup final again and beat Maccabi Haifa on penalties .

The wild 1990s

Interior view of the Teddy Stadium

In 1991, Beitar had to relegate to the second division, the Artzit League. The immediate resurgence succeeded and in 1993 Beitar celebrated the Israeli championship title for the second time as a climber. In 1997 Beitar was again champion and defended the title the following year. Due to poor financial policy, however, the club was on the verge of bankruptcy. The training ground had to be sold. The Group of Kobi Ben Gur took over the club.

Since the 2000s

As a result of the Second Intifada and the resulting danger in public places and events, Beitar lost massive audience numbers. The club was also hit hard by the financial problems. In August 2005, Beitar was bought by billionaire Arcadi Gaydamak of Russian descent . However, his commitment is very controversial among the Beitar fans. A diplomatic gesture in particular when he transferred $ 400,000 to FC Bnei Sachnin , and the eviction of popular coach Eli Ohana enraged supporters. Gaydamak's announcement that he would sign an Arab player ( Abbas Suan ) was not carried out due to massive fan protests. The club had not accepted any Arab players until 2013. In 2008, Beitar was able to win both the Israeli championship and the national cup and defend the latter in 2009.

In 2018, the association announced that it would include "Trump" in the association's name because of the relocation of the American embassy to Jerusalem in honor of US President Donald Trump . The sociologist Tamir Sorek believes that an official renaming is unlikely, since the Israeli Football Association only allows deceased people in club names and there has been strong resistance to the renaming from among club fans on social media.

In August 2018, the blockchain investor Moshe Hogeg acquired the association for 26.5 million shekels.

successes

Israel Championship (6): 1987, 1993, 1997, 1998, 2007 , 2008
Israel Football Cup (7): 1976, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1989, 2008, 2009
Israel League Cup (1): 1998

Stadion

Beitar plays in Teddy Stadium . The 32,700-seat stadium is known by the nickname Gehinnom (Hell) because of the heated atmosphere .

Racism and Islamophobia

Around 20 percent of Israeli citizens are Arabs of the Muslim faith, but Beitar Jerusalem has refused to accept Muslim Arabs on the team for more than seventy years. Some of the team's supporters are known for their right-wing extremist political orientation and, above all, for their rabid racism. At a game shortly before Holocaust Remembrance Day 2013, they displayed a banner in the stadium that read "Beitar eternally pure" (בית"ר טהורה לעד) and "70 years of principles" (70 שנים של עקרונות) to protest plans to add two Muslim players from Chechnya to the team. A former Muslim player, Ibrahim Nadallah from Nigeria , had to leave the team due to constant racist abuse from his own fans. However, Christian players are well accepted. In March 2012, after losing a game, hundreds of Beitar supporters attacked Arab employees of a shopping center and shouted racist slogans. The police did not intervene. In Israel itself, the riots were often characterized as a pogrom , including by the deputy mayor of Jerusalem, Pepe Alalu. Some fan groups are openly racist and proud of it: When the team comes to the field to warm up, the fans intone: "Here it comes, the most racist team in the state [Israel]" (הנה היא עולה, הקבוצה הגזענית של המדינה). Other common battle cries are "Death to the Arabs" and "Destroy the Amalekites ". In 2011, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz published a photo showing the Beitar fan curve with a giant Kach flag.