Born Georg Josephthal in Nuremberg in Germany, Yoseftal was a member of the Yiddisher Yudenbund youth movement in his teens.

After high school he studied law and economics at the University of Heidelberg, Berlin, Munich and Basel, gaining a PhD in jurisprudence at the latter.

In 1932 he joined Habonim, and the following year was appointed head of the youth department of the Bavarian Jewish community.

In 1939 he was a key player in the clandestine operation to save 480 German Jews from Nazi Germany and to transport them by sea on the SS Dora to Palestine.

[2] The Yoseftal Medical Center in Eilat is named for him; he was instrumental in its construction and location but did not live to see it opened.