As part of its recently launched ‘Disrupt the IOF’ campaign, South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) has published a detailed dossier containing evidence of those organisations within South Africa that provide support for the Israeli Defence Force (IDF), referred to by us as the Israeli Occupying Forces (IOF) in recognition of the fact that there is nothing defensive about the Israeli military’s policies or actions.
On 25 September 2025, SAJFP formally launched its ‘Disrupt the IOF’ campaign with a letter of solidarity in which more than a hundred South Africans who refused to serve in the military under apartheid expressed their solidarity with Israeli “refuseniks” who have recently done the same.
This letter was only the beginning of a four-pillar initiative designed to expose, prohibit, and prosecute South African involvement with the IOF.
The campaign’s four pillars are:
- Support for Israeli Refuseniks: Standing in solidarity with Israelis who refuse to serve in the IOF, SAJFP has delivered a statement of support signed by over a hundred South Africans, including veterans of the anti-apartheid End Conscription Campaign (ECC).
- Prohibit IOF Recruitment: SAJFP is calling for an immediate investigation into organizations facilitating IOF service. This includes Telfed, which runs the Garin Tzabar program to place South Africans in IDF combat units, and the United Jewish Campaign, which channels approximately R9 million annually to Telfed.
- Prosecute IOF Servicemembers: In coordination with the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign (PSC), SAJFP is demanding the prosecution of South Africans serving in the IOF under the RFMAA and Geneva Conventions Act, including those providing financial or logistical support to the IOF.
- Prevent Perpetrators from Entering SA: SAJFP is calling on Home Affairs to revoke visa-free access for Israeli nationals implicated in human rights abuses. While South Africa has imposed visa requirements on Palestinians—effectively closing the door to asylum-seekers from Gaza—Israelis continue to enjoy unfettered access.
Drawing on the moral legacy of Jewish South Africans who resisted apartheid conscription in the 1980s, SAJFP is demanding that the South African government enforce its own laws. Despite the Regulation of Foreign Military Assistance Act (RFMAA) and the Implementation of the Rome Statute Act, over 400 South Africans are reportedly serving in the IOF, many allegedly in combat roles. Yet, not a single prosecution has been pursued.
“While our government bravely leads the genocide case against Israel at the ICJ, it has turned a blind eye to IOF recruitment happening in our own backyard,” said a spokesperson for SAJFP. “From the Aliyah Expo in Johannesburg to school assemblies at Herzlia, young South Africans are being groomed to fight in a genocidal army. This is not only a moral outrage: It is a crime.”
“The same dual nationals who may be dropping bombs on Gaza can vacation in Cape Town the next month,” the spokesperson continued. “Meanwhile, Palestinians fleeing genocide cannot access a visa application. This is indefensible hypocrisy.”
SAJFP demands that the government investigate Jewish day schools like Herzlia and King David regarding their alleged role in recruiting for the IOF, prosecute recruiters and fundraisers for the IOF, and bar entry to individuals associated with Telfed or IDF service in Gaza. The organization also calls on African Union member states to follow the lead of countries like Colombia and the Maldives by restricting Israeli travel in light of the ICJ’s findings.
“We will not stand by while our community’s institutions are weaponized to facilitate war crimes,” SAJFP concluded. “Never again must be for everyone.”
Read the new dossier by SAJFP’s ‘Disrupt the IOF Campaign’ here.