The International Federation of Social Workers, a global umbrella organization representing about 3 million social workers through more than 150 national member associations, will hold a special online meeting on Feb. 18 to vote on whether to suspend or expel the Israeli Union of Social Workers.
The motion, proposed in October by the Irish Social Workers Union and seconded by the Hellenic and Spanish Unions, will only address the Israeli union, which represents roughly 5,000 social workers. A 75% majority of members present and voting is required, and each member organization is entitled to one voting representative.
The motion’s sponsors will have 30 minutes to “present their concerns,” followed by a 30-minute response from the Israeli union.
In a Jan. 19 report to member organizations, Pascal Rudin, interim secretary general of IFSW, outlined the proposal, which calls on the federation to “condemn the genocide in Gaza,” demand a ceasefire and immediately suspend cooperation with Israeli state, professional and academic institutions operating in what it described as “illegal settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” including Ariel University.
The Jewish Social Worker Consortium described the planned vote as “a clear escalation in selective enforcement,” citing what it called “coordinated pressure by anti-Zionist organizations” to push member groups to endorse the Israeli union’s expulsion.
The group called on the IFSW to halt the vote and urged the U.S.-based National Association of Social Workers, a member organization with over 120,000 members, “to reject endorsement of expulsion and to affirm that ethical accountability must be conduct-based, not identity-based.” The U.S. association has not commented publicly.
Member organizations from Switzerland, Germany and the Dominican Republic have submitted their statements in advance of the meeting, recommending dialogue or suspension rather than expulsion.
‘Deeply troubled’
The motion proposal follows a January 2025 censure of the Israeli union for what the IFSW described as “not acting to promote peace.”
As part of that process, IFSW asked whether the Israeli union would request that the Israeli government exempt social workers from active combat roles. The Israeli union confirmed that some of its members serve in combat roles due to the Jewish state’s mandatory military and reserve service laws, and declined to make such a request.
IFSW stated that the refusal violated its Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles, adopted in 2018, which holds that social workers should support peace and nonviolence and “should not use weapons in their professional or personal capacities against people.”
By contrast, IFSW claimed that the Palestinian Union of Social Workers and Psychologists, listed as having approximately 9,500 members, confirmed that its members were “not engaged in combat at any level and that they stand for peace and self-determination.”
The Israeli union said it was “deeply troubled” by the censure. In a response letter, it argued that while the Palestinian union said its members were not involved in combat, “there is no Palestinian government in Gaza to approach for any exemption.”
“The terrorist organization, Hamas, rules, and there is no standing army under civilian control,” it stated, adding that the Palestinian group “has no way of knowing if members are taking part in the fighting or not.”
The Israeli union accused the IFSW of being “one-sided, discriminatory and applying a double standard,” pointing to Austria, Switzerland and Norway, which have similar reserve service policies but whose social worker organizations were not asked to seek combat exemptions.
The letter also noted that social workers serve within the militaries of countries, including Canada and the United States, without IFSW asking those member groups to request exemptions.
The singling out of the Israeli union constitutes “an antisemitic act” under the definition of Jew-hatred “accepted by most Western governments.”
“Just to be clear, the IUSW has consistently called for a just peace based on a mutual recognition of rights and self-determination of both Israelis and Palestinians,” the letter stated, adding that the Palestinian union has “consistently rejected our attempts to open any dialogue to promote trust and understanding.”
The Israeli union cited a 2019 offer to co-host a conference with the Palestinian union in Tel Aviv and Bethlehem, which it said the Palestinian union rejected. IFSW “subsequently refused” to allow the Israeli union to proceed with the conference independently.
The letter concluded with a list of social workers murdered by Hamas during its terrorist attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, including Sigal Levi, Yisrael Amichai Vitzan, Moshe Yedidya Raziel, Lilach Kipnis and Rinat Segev-Even, who was murdered with her husband and two of her children.
It also noted Ditsa Heyman, an 84-year-old retired social worker, who was kidnapped from her home in Nir Oz and returned to Israel after 53 days during the first hostage-prisoner exchange with Hamas.
The Palestinian Union responded to the censure by expressing its disappointment that it was not a strong enough action.
“It fails to address the full gravity of the situation,” the letter stated. It accused Israel of “persistent persecution and forced displacement of Palestinians” as well as “ongoing targeting of Palestinian social workers, including their killing, detention and forced displacement.”
The Palestinian union urged the IFSW to “move beyond censures” by recognizing the “genocide and forced displacement as violations of international law” and supporting Palestinian social workers “in resisting the occupation and its violations.”
