Israeli forces operate at a location given as Mount Hermon region, Syria, in this handout image released Dec. 9, 2024. Photo: Israel Defense Forces/Handout via REUTERS

An Irish music, arts, and wellness festival has banned all current and former members of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) from attending its 2026 event, with organizers declaring their “solidarity with the Palestinian people.”

In a statement posted to its official Instagram account, organizers of the Rewild festival — held in a forested area near the Gap of Dunloe in County Kerry over the weekend of July 11-12 — said the gathering was “committed to fostering a safe, welcoming, and inclusive space for our community.” Current or former members of what they termed the “Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF)” were “not welcome at Rewild and will not be permitted to participate in the festival,” the statement added.

Organizers said they had acted after learning that a former Israeli soldier planned to attend as a paying guest — a disclosure that triggered an online backlash and prompted anti-Israel activists to urge artists and vendors to boycott the event. According to Irish media reports, organizers initially indicated the man would be allowed to attend before reversing course under mounting pressure, with some artists and suppliers threatening to withdraw.

Concluding their statement, organizers assured supporters that the former soldier “will NOT be in attendance.”

The policy drew swift condemnation. The Campaign Against Antisemitism described the ban as “xenophobia masquerading as progressivism,” noting that because military service is compulsory for most Jewish citizens of Israel, the measure effectively amounts to nationality-based discrimination.

Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder said the organizers’ use of the term “IOF” was revealing of their broader ideology, and placed the episode within what he described as a growing sense among Irish Jews that their standing in society is contingent on distancing themselves from Israel. Wieder pointed to protests outside Jewish community events, efforts to rename Dublin’s Herzog Park, and reported harassment of Hebrew speakers as part of the same pattern.

Photo: Instagram

Military service is mandatory for most Israeli citizens so the policy undoubtedly affected many Israelis who were hoping to attend the festival.

Messages from a WhatsApp group for organizers of the festival show some members of the production team initially defended the former IDF soldier’s presence at the event before organizers announced its policy against Israeli military personnel, according to the Irish publication Aontacht Media. One organizer wrote, “Yes, he is welcome,” while another reportedly told an attendee who was complaining about the former IDF soldier’s attendance: “If you are uncomfortable with that, you are free not to attend.” Another organizer said in a voice message that the attendee “is a friend of the main organizer, and it is not your place to be raising these concerns,” before the ban was announced, Aontacht Media reported.

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) criticized the move on Tuesday, saying, “it appears that so-called inclusive spaces are only inclusive for some.”

“Rewild claims to be ‘a space where everyone can come together,’ but apparently that excludes any Israeli who has performed their obligatory national service,” CAA added. “Conscription is compulsory in Israel, so this ban seems to simply be xenophobia masquerading as progressivism.”

The policy was also condemned by Ireland’s Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder. In a lengthy statement to Jewish News, he said in part that using the term “Israel Occupation Forces” to describe IDF soldiers is “the language of people who ignore the reality that Israel is forced to maintain compulsory military service because it faces jihadist terrorist organizations on its borders that are openly intent on its destruction.“