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Anger as UK social worker organisation backs move to expel Israel from global body
EXCLUSIVE: British Association of Social Workers backs move by Irish/Hellenic/Spanish unions to expel Israel from the profession’s global body
The UK’s largest representative organisation for social workers is backing a move to expel their Israeli counterparts from the profession’s global body, Jewish News can reveal.
A motion proposed by the Irish Social Worker Union, seconded by the Hellenic and Spanish unions, calls for the “suspension and/or expulsion” of the Israeli Union of Social Workers (IUSW) from the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) due to its alleged “silence on the genocide in Gaza.”
It cites Israeli social workers’ participation as “combatants” in Gaza, and the IFSW Statement of Ethical Principles which specifies that “social workers support peace and nonviolence,” and that this “requires all IFSW members to call on their governments/authorities to make social workers exempt from military service,” and that “failure to do so would be a breach of the ethical principles and would result in action affecting their membership status”
The principles require all IFSW members to urge their governments to exempt social workers from military service, warning that failure to do so may lead to disciplinary action, including changes in membership status.
Jewish News has learned that the British Association of Social Workers (BASW), the UK’s largest professional membership organisation for social workers, has now voted to support the controversial motion.
The hardline motion, which calls for a wider boycott of “Israeli state, professional and academic institutions in the Occupied Territories”, will be debated at a global body for the profession’s annual conference on February 18th, 2026.
Sources claim that a “fringe” and highly politicised group within 17,000 member strong BASW, and connected to the affiliated Social Workers Union, has driven the move, led by far-left pro-Palestine activists.
But Jewish social workers have voiced alarm over the ongoing and intense campaigning around the issue.
One told Jewish News, “Most of our colleagues keep their views on Israel-Palestine outside of their professional work.
“This is the work of a tiny minority of activists pushing anti-Israel activism.”
A spokesperson for the Britain Israel Trade Union Dialogue (BITUD) organisation, established to promote solidarity and strong links between British, Israeli and Palestinian trade unions, added:”It is with great concern that we learn Israeli trade unionists are being singled out by fellow trade unionists.
“Unions provide a space for everyone to exchange and air their views, but boycotting won’t help the Palestinian cause.
“In fact, it damages progressives in Israel in their work for peace and a two-state solution.”
The SWU has long been affiliated with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and last year secured the passing of a motion calling on the British government “to end their complicity in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”
The IFSW is the main international body for the social work profession, representing social workers from 141 countries worldwide.
The Israeli social worker body has around 5,000 members, and is the sole organisation authorised to represent the profession before government ministries, local authorities and employers in Israel.
The IUSW is a membership-based democratic union within the Histadrut trade union federation.
The Palestinian Union of Social Workers and Psychologists (PUSWP) is among the groups seeking Israel’s expulsion from the international federation.
The Israeli union has previously responded to attempts to expel it by highlighting the horror of the October 7 Hamas attacks in 2023 and raising wider concerns about antisemitism.
It has also raised concerns about previous IFSW attempts to censure it for “failing to uphold the Federation’s Ethical Principles”, although these measures have stopped short of actual suspension or expulsion.
A statement on the BASW website states:”BASW and SWU condemn in the strongest possible terms and stand against all instances of Antisemitism and Islamophobia within the UK and globally.
“We deplore the huge rise in reported antisemitic attacks, including in the immediate wake of the October 7th Hamas attack on Israeli civilians, and the fears arising from this within the Jewish community.
“We deplore the reported tripling of Islamophobic threats and attacks in the UK since October 7th and the military action in Gaza, two-thirds of such acts being against women. “
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