the games were stopped abruptly: on that day the 1948 Arab–Israeli War broke out. During the war, Beitar Jerusalem player Asher Benjamin was killed by the British when he entered to a British camp in Jerusalem. State of Israel After independence in 1948, Beitar, again by its original name, played since 1949–50 season in a "Special League" of "Jerusalem's district", ending in 5th place while achieving a win of 8–0 over Hapoel Ramla on 17 December 1949, the highest league win of Beitar Jerusalem in any league the club played. In 1951–52 season, the club integrated into Liga Bet southern part, then the second tier. In 1953–54 the club won the southern division of Liga Bet, and were promoted to the top league, which had just been renamed Liga Leumit. In their first season in the top flight they finished 11th out of 14, and were forced to participate in promotion/relegation play-offs. Although they were the highest-placed club to take part in the play-offs, they finished at the bottom of the group, Beitar were relegated back to the second league, now renamed Liga Alef. In 1957–58 they won Liga Alef, but were not promoted, as there was no promotion or relegation that year. They won Liga Alef again in 1966–68 (a two-year season) and were promoted back to Liga Leumit. That was the best league season ever for Beitar Jerusalem, although it was winning the 2nd division "only". 104 points out of possible 120, for a season of 60 matches when two points were given for winning a match. The club had 32 match undefeated streak with a sequence of 19 wins starting with the 42nd match to the 60th match inclusive, the record of Beitar Jerusalem in any league, scoring 161 league goals. 225,000 spectators saw the club matches in that season. The prize that the club management gave to the players was a trip to the United States of America. After finishing thirteenth in 1968–69, Beitar finished fifth in 1969–70, their best performance to date. 1970s In the 1971–72 Liga they finished as runners-up to Maccabi Tel Aviv. In 1974, during a match against Hapoel Petah Tikva, Beitar fans invaded the pitch and attacked Petah Tikva players and fans. This caused the first of several "radius" penalties, in which the club was forced to play matches in other cities behind closed doors. Beitar were also due to be