Key facts
- The Israeli Medical Association (IMA) faces calls for suspension from the World Medical Association (WMA).
- Critics accuse the IMA of defending Israel's actions in Gaza and opposing international condemnation of alleged war crimes.
- The IMA has been described as complicit in the torture of Palestinian prisoners and aligned with the siege on Gaza.
- The association is accused of using 'medical diplomacy' to defend Israel and counter international criticism.
- The IMA condemned an Iranian strike on Soroka hospital but selectively applied principles regarding Gaza's healthcare facilities.
Calls are intensifying to suspend the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) from the World Medical Association (WMA), with critics alleging the IMA's complicity in defending Israel's actions in Gaza. The debate centers on the IMA's alleged failure to condemn the destruction of Gaza's healthcare system and attacks on health facilities in Lebanon and Iran.
The IMA has argued that calls for its expulsion confuse a country's government with its medical association, a stance critics deem a dangerous precedent. Beyond silence, the association is accused of actively opposing international medical and academic bodies, professional organizations, and medical journals that seek to condemn Israel's conduct in Gaza. It is alleged to have mobilized its professional authority to contest allegations of war crimes and genocide, and to push back against demands for a ceasefire and accountability.
Critics assert that the IMA's role extends beyond that of an independent professional body, aligning itself with Israeli policies affecting Palestinians and acting as a defender of state practices. This alleged complicity predates the current conflict, with the IMA previously defending the establishment of a medical school in an illegal settlement and being accused of complicity in the torture of Palestinian prisoners and supporting the siege on Gaza. Since October 7, the IMA has reportedly defended Israel's war in Gaza, sought to thwart calls for a ceasefire and accountability, and circulated official Israeli justifications for the destruction in Gaza.
The IMA is described as having functioned as a political actor through "medical diplomacy," using its authority and claims of neutrality to defend Israel and counter criticism. Its inquiries to Israeli military authorities regarding humanitarian conditions in Gaza and attacks on healthcare are seen as a response to mounting international pressure and calls for sanctions. Notably, the IMA condemned an Iranian strike on Soroka hospital as a war crime but simultaneously reproduced Israeli military narratives that undermined the protected status of healthcare institutions in Gaza, thereby denying Palestinian hospitals the same unconditional protection.