October 11, 2005
A Jewish Russian businessman and philanthropist, Arcadi Gaydamak, has been elected head of Betar, a worldwide Zionist organization for youth. Gaydamak said that under his leadership the group would attempt to revive Zionist ideals, fight assimilation and counteract anti-Semitism. Gaydamak’s leadership would open new possibilities for Zionist education of Russian Jewish youth, a news release said. Founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Betar now has dozens of branches in North and South America, South Africa, Australia, the United Kingdom and across the former Soviet Union. In the last few months, Gaydamak, president of the Congress of Jewish Religious Organizations and Communities of Russia, has been increasingly active in Jewish public life and philanthropy in Russia and Israel.
