Full Breakdown
Petition to Suspend Israeli Medical Association Triggers Global Medical Debate
6/14/2026, 8:07:43 PM
Petition
On Saturday, The Lancet published a petition signed by the People’s Health Movement, Artsen voor Gaza (Doctors for Gaza) and the Health Advisory Council of the Jewish Voice for Peace. The petition urges World Medical Association (WMA) to suspend Israeli Medical Association (IMA) for alleged failure to condemn the genocide of Palestinians and the destruction of health-care infrastructure in Gaza. WMA will consider the request at its October congress in Rotterdam.
Background
The IMA, a founding member of the WMA, has long promoted the association’s ethics. The WMA says excluding members for government actions undermines physician dialogue, a principle from its 1947 founding after Nazi doctors’ crimes. In June 2025, the British Medical Association suspended ties with the IMA over its public silence on Gaza. The Lancet’s July 2024 correspondence estimated up to 186,000 Gaza-related deaths, a figure that fueled further debate.
Official Response
The WMA said that “doing so diminishes our ability to call out injustices, and threatens shrinking the dialogue among physicians at this critical time when consensus in support of our medical ethics is so needed.” The British Medical Association announced a June 2025 suspension of ties with the IMA, calling the silence on Gaza unacceptable.
Opposition
Dr Afshine Emrani, an Iranian-Jewish cardiologist, called the petition a disgrace to the profession. He warned that suspending the IMA would jeopardize Israeli innovations like PillCam, ReWalk and AI-driven diagnostics. Emrani also noted a double standard, pointing out that medical bodies from Iran, Russia and North Korea face no similar petitions despite documented abuses by the Iranian regime.
Gaps
The petition provides no IMA statements to verify the alleged silence. Emrani’s letter offers no proof that suspending the IMA would affect Israeli policy or health-care. The Lancet’s estimate of up to 186,000 Gaza deaths remains contested.
Next Steps
WMA will vote on the suspension at its October congress in Rotterdam. An expulsion could set a precedent for professional bodies responding to geopolitical conflicts; retaining the IMA would reaffirm commitment to medical neutrality.
Quotes
- “colluded in the unspeakable treatment of Palestinians during this war.” — Leslie London, University of Cape Town
- “doing so diminishes our ability to call out injustices, and threatens shrinking the dialogue among physicians at this critical time when consensus in support of our medical ethics is so needed.” — WMA
- “I’m a cardiologist. I’m an Iranian Jew who grew up under a regime where medicine was subjugated to the state. What The Lancet just did is a disgrace to my profession.” — Dr Emrani
- “The moment we expel medical bodies based on political litmus tests is the moment we destroy the neutrality that makes global medicine possible.” — Dr Emrani
