The EEIF is a member of the Fédération du Scoutisme Français and of the International Forum of Jewish Scouts.

[4] The Fédération Française des Eclaireuses (FFE; French Guides Federation) was formed in 1921, and in 1928 accepted a Jewish section.

[6] As a compromise the EIF agreed not to mention Zionism among the goals of the movement, but the Scout camps continued to teach Hebrew, practice Jewish ritual, learn about Jewish culture and practice the Zionist ideal of combining manual labor and intellectual activity.

On 5 January 1943 Louis Darquier de Pellepoix, Commissioner General for Jewish Questions, ordered the immediate dissolution and ban of the EIF and forbade their reconstitution in any form.

During the Occupation of Paris, many Jews were deported by the French police and Nazis separately from their children in various roundups.

As a result, babies and toddlers and young Jewish teenagers were left alone in apartments or wandering the streets alone.