It all Started in june 2017

June 2017 marked 50 years of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Jews throughout the world answered the call to approach their local Israeli Ambassadors to address this issue. We sent a letter to Israeli ambassador to SA, Arthur Lenk, calling on his government to make a concrete commitment to restart peace negotiations and end the Occupation.

This action led to the realisation that South African Jewry could no longer remain silent on the issue of Occupation. The established Leadership were loathe to represent Jewish Community views that expressed opposition to the continuous half century of occupation.

JDI was born to represent the “missing middle” of our community that acknowledge both our connection to Israel and the desire to support a genuine peace process.

A home at LAst

JDI honours the long tradition of SA Jews’ involvement in the continuous struggle for human rights and justice. We seek to re-connect our community to these traditions by word and deed.

JDI does not endorse the BDS movement. We advocate active engagement - seeking to enhance positive connection to and with Israel and Palestine.

We align ourselves with the many NGO’s and associations, in Israel, Palestine and the Diaspora, that work for reconciliation and peaceful co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians.

JDI connects our SA Community with these groups, shares in their work and joins the international effort that envisages the possibility of a peaceful, equitable and democratic path forward for Palestinians and Israelis.

Who are our members

JDI’s members are a diverse group of people from across the Jewish community. We are prominent community members, established communal leaders, we sit on the boards of various Jewish and non-Jewish organisations, we are academics, professionals, volunteers, parents and children. Consequently, our membership represents a diverse range of political and religious beliefs, are at different personal levels of affiliation with the Jewish community and are multi-generational and multi-denominational. 

Fundamentally, we all believe in the power of strengthening and defending democracy to transform societies, specifically South Africa, Israel and Palestine