PUBLISHED ONMarch 24, 2026 7:35 AMBYCandice CaiA Singaporean father and son who volunteered with Israeli volunteer organisation Sar-El Volunteer Corps in 2016 were questioned by the Internal Security Department (ISD) in 2025, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and Ministry of Defence (Mindef) in a joint statement on Tuesday (March 24).
This comes after recent social media posts highlighted that the son had encouraged others to volunteer with the organisation in a since-deleted blog post from several years ago.
According to the ministries, it was assessed by the authorities that the duo was not involved in military activity with the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).
The case is also not related to a foreign report of two Singaporeans alleged to have fought with the IDF in the Gaza conflict, they added.
In the statement, the ministries said that they were recently made aware of the content of the blog, which was published "sometime in 2018 or 2019" by an individual, identified only as "A".
The blog post showed a photo of A in a National Cadet Corps ceremonial uniform, and included a hyperlink to his website, which contained a link to redirect users to the website of the Sar-El Volunteer Corps (Singapore), said the ministries.
The post was taken down in 2025 after ISD engaged with the duo, but was recently re-posted by other social media users.
Providing context to the case, MHA and Mindef stated that A and his father, "B", had volunteered with Sar-El for two weeks in December 2016.
The latter had written to Singaporean authorities to enquire if his son could participate in the activities with the organisation as part of the school's volunteer programme in the United States.
Screenshots of the since-deleted blog post seen by AsiaOne indicated that the son, a Singaporean, was studying in Holderness School in New Hampshire, US, at the time.
In the email to authorities, B had stated that they were aware that under Singapore law, Singaporeans are not to serve in a foreign military organisation. He also indicated that participants in Sar-El do not pledge allegiance to the IDF or Israel, and do not serve in combat roles or take up arms.
The volunteer programme, organised by Israeli volunteers and the IDF Logistics Corps, would involve packing, painting, sorting, cleaning, washing and cooking, the father said.
According to the statement, authorities found that Sar-El's website at the time stated that the organisation assists the IDF, and Sar-El's volunteers would work in IDF warehouses and be given guided tours of some locations in Israel, as well as lectures on Jewish and Israeli topics.
With the information provided by the father and available information on Sar-El's website in 2016, the authorities responded that participation in Sar-El volunteer programme did not constitute service in a foreign military.
However, it stated that A's participation was "not endorsed or authorised", and was conducted "on his own volition, with full awareness of the risks involved".
Both father and son had completed the two-week programme by the time authorities replied to the email, said the statement.
The statement continued that in 2025, the ISD engaged with A and B after learning about the blog post, but no action was taken for their activities in 2016 "based on the facts known at that time".
"Based on ISD's investigations, ISD concluded that A and B were not involved in any military activities with the IDF. After ISD's engagement with them, A took down the blog post. A and B are no longer involved with Sar-El," the statement added.
Mindef also said it has also not evaluated any similar requests with regard to Sar-El since then.
However, the ministries noted that Sar-El's current website states that Sar-El is "deeply committed to supporting the IDF", and its volunteers "work side-by-side with soldiers on IDF bases", with their "volunteer service contribut[ing] directly to the security of Israel".
"Being involved in organisations like Sar-El on these terms today would not be acceptable and action will be taken under our laws against anyone whose involvement in such activities are found to be prejudicial to Singapore's national security and interests," they said.
They also added that there is no information to suggest that the pair's volunteering stint is related to the recent foreign news report in February this year claiming that two Singaporean may have fought for the IDF during the conflict in Gaza.
A check by AsiaOne on Sar-El's website on Tuesday shows 32 countries and territories that have local liaisons with the organisation. Information on the Singapore liaison was believed to have been removed sometime between March 10 and March 17 this year, reported The Straits Times.
On March 5, Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister of Home Affairs K Shanmugam had stated in Parliament that Singapore's query to the Israeli government on allegations of Singaporeans fighting for IDF had yet to be met with a response.
He stated that MHA will take action should it obtain "any credible information".
"It doesn't matter to us whether you're fighting for Israel or Ukraine or Russia or some other Middle Eastern country or a terrorist organisation. It's not acceptable, and we will take action if we find you," warned Shanmugam.
[[nid:728943]]
