When a Likud government led by Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu relinquished parts of Hebron to Yasser Arafat in 1998, Betar members were uncertain as to how to view a Likud Prime Minister's betrayal of one of their most sacred principles. As a reaction to the Prime Minister's decision, the Director of Overseas Activities at the time, Karma Feinstein-Cohen, along with a group of ideological purists and veteran activists from chapters throughout the world, left Betar in order to establish a new movement. In 1999, Herut: The National Movement was established and registered in the Israeli Department of Party Registry by former Likud activists led by Knesset membersBenny Begin, Michael Kleiner, and David Re'em who opposed the Likud government’s withdrawal in Judea and Samaria. Herut ran in three Israeli national elections. Upon inception, the movement joined the World Zionist Organization, set up party branches all over the world, and established a young adult movement, Magshimey Herut— the reborn Jabotinsky movement for Zionist education and activism. Herut has active branches in 11 countries today. Since 2004, the threshold for Knesset membership has been raised twice. Herut, consequently, has chosen not to participate in Israeli elections. For the present, Herut concentrates its efforts on gaining adherents to Herut ideology and promoting Aliyah and the absorption of Olim into Israeli society. Individual members, among them, MK Benny Begin and the head of the Likud Supreme Court, Michael Kleiner, have rejoined the Likud. Nevertheless, Herut continues to be registered in the Israeli government's Party Registry. The Herut party remains intact and reserves the right to compete in future elections, should suitable circumstances arise. World Herut and Magshimey Herut initiate, promote, and support the activities of students, Olim and social action groups that are consistent with the movements' objectives. World Herut works in conjunction with the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency for Israel, and Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael on projects that advance common goals.
Ideology
In their mission statement they write: "World Magshimey Heurt is a Zionist youth movement dedicated to social justice, the unity of the Jewish people, and the territorial integrity of the Land of Israel. World Magshimey Herut educates Jewish young adults throughout the world towards Jewish pride, activist Zionism, and love for Israel. World Magshimey Herut encourages members to assume an active role in determining the future of the Jewish people and to assert Israel's national rights."..."World Herut is committed to the creation, in Israel, of the social, economic and political conditions conductive to successfully integrating all Jews within the body politic. World Herut, therefore, is politically democratic, socially liberal, economically free-market and social-welfare oriented. In addition, as a Zionist movement, World Herut emphasizes the Jewish people's right to live freely and securely in its ancestral homeland.". World MH is proactively engaged in the fulfillment of classic Zionist goals:
The ingathering of the majority of world Jewry into the Land of Israel
The incorporation of the entire Land into the free nation-state of the Jewish people, in the State of Israel.
Magshimey Herut has referred to itself as the "reborn Jabotinsky movement", and sees itself as the ideological successors of Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Revisionist Zionism Magshimey Herut looks at the State of Israel as the natural successor to the previous sovereign Jewish Kingdoms and States in the Land of Israel. They see Zionism as the natural indigenous right of the Jewish people to rule themselves in their native homeland, and that the fact that this right was taken away is a root cause of antisemitism.
Activities
World MH is active the globe with four major types of activities.
