A few Orthodox and Reform communities in Switzerland operate independently of the federation.
Three Reform communities in Basel, Geneva, and Zurich are instead members of the Platform for Liberal Jews in Switzerland (PLJS).
In order to promote unity within the Jewish community, the SIG cooperates with the PLJS on political issues.
[1] The federation was founded in 1904 in order to protect the rights and interests of Swiss Jews, and in particular to oppose the Swiss ban on kosher slaughter, which the federation considered antisemitic.
[1] The federation managed to ensure the importation of small quantities of kosher meat.