The Principle of "Giyus" (Mobilization).

The word "giyus/mobilization" has two different meanings in Betar: The first and primary meaning is mobilization for a new Jewish building—initially a mass movement, the agent of state policy: every Betari who immigrates to Eretz Israel must commit, according to our regulations, to "two years for state-building," and he is obligated during the first two years of his stay in our land, to go to any work and to any place and under any conditions that the office managing Betar will impose on him.

This principle has become a kind of "non-principle". In our days, Aliyah has become an "everyday matter": even "non-Zionists" are permitted to "attach themselves to their homeland," many perhaps without any internal connection to the national ideals and their values, and the distinction between "pioneers" and "refugees" is completely blurred.

In Betar, we are forbidden to permit this. Aliyah must truly remain "Aliyah": an act that includes within it an element of effort, of "reversal," of sacrifice for the good of the nation's cause, not just a means of saving oneself. Therefore, we demand of every Betari immigrant that during his first two years in Eretz Israel, he shall surrender himself and his private affairs. In these two years, he is to be no "more than a number." All security in Betar is contingent on him accepting that these are the conditions under which he must be. Work. In Tel Aviv, the pleasant climate is enough for him, which is good for him: to be here is what it is to be dragged along. He must go and do as the establishment of a Jewish state demands of him, according to the command of the Betar leadership in Eretz Israel. This is what our young activists do, who live today in small Jewish colonies and organize the labor platoons.

For immigrants from abroad, this is an obligation and not a choice: anyone who refuses to submit to the two-year mobilization is not entitled to receive from us the "Betar Aliyah Certificate." But even those born or raised in Eretz Israel are permitted, of their own free will, to accept the mobilization upon themselves, and to enter the labor platoons for two years. And of course: if a Betari wishes to remain in place for more than two years, we welcome this with a blessing; but his first years in Eretz Israel do not belong to him, they belong to the state policy.