WMA retains IMA despite torture allegations: 6,500 sign petition demanding suspension
Critics claim the Israeli Medical Association has ignored ethics codes, while the body maintains that inclusion is central to its mission.
By Isaac Medina ·
The World Medical Association (WMA) voted to keep the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) as a full member, rejecting a formal petition to suspend the group. The decision came at the WMA General Assembly in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, where 6,500 medical personnel from the IMA Out! campaign presented their case. The coalition included hundreds of doctors who protested outside the assembly, carrying a shroud listing the names of 18,000 Palestinian children killed in Gaza.
Critics argue the IMA has failed to enforce core medical ethics standards. Specific allegations include the organization's failure to penalize Israeli doctors who allegedly oversaw the torture of detainees and the deaths of Palestinian healthcare workers in Israeli prisons. Approximately 1,700 healthcare workers have been killed by Israel since October 2023. The IMA represents more than 90 percent of doctors in Israel, and its leaders hold senior positions within the WMA structure.
Dr. Jonathan Fluxman, a retired British GP and organizing member of the IMA Out! campaign, stated that both the WMA and IMA refused to investigate reports from human rights agencies. He told Middle East Eye that the bodies were allowing Israel to act with impunity, comparing their behavior to that of the US and British governments. Fluxman argued that three decades of inclusion had given the IMA "carte blanche to do whatever it wants." Derek Summerfield, an honorary senior lecturer at King's College London, described the IMA as the "buttress of the Israeli state" after campaigning on the issue for nearly two decades.
The Hind Rajab Foundation filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court last month, urging an investigation into whether Israeli doctors and officials from the health and defence ministries were involved in torture. This marks the first time a WMA member has been referred to the ICC. Dyab Abou Jahjah, the foundation's director general, asked why an association that provided "institutional cover for torture" remains at the table. Whistleblowers from the Sde Teiman military base have documented systemic abuse, including amputations performed without anaesthesia.
The South African Medical Association led a push to suspend the IMA last year, but the motion failed to secure the required majority. Dr. Mvuyisi Mzukwa, the association's chairman, noted that his group was the first to formally cut ties with the IMA, a step later followed by British and Turkish medical associations. Mzukwa missed the recent Rotterdam assembly because his visa was sent to Pretoria instead of Durban. He suggested that intelligence may have been used to prevent his attendance. Sama also raised concerns in July regarding Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, a Palestinian paediatrician detained since December 2024, and said the IMA provided no evidence it sought medical examinations for him.
The WMA, founded in 1947 after Nazi German doctors participated in war crimes, represents 118 countries. Its members must adhere to the 1975 Declaration of Tokyo, which bars doctors from participating in torture. The organization suspended only one member in its history, South Africa, in 1976. The WMA told Middle East Eye that inclusion sits at the core of its identity and that patients remain its focus. It added that members regularly call out injustices, even when their own governments are involved. The IMA did not respond to a request for comment.
The next major step involves the ICC's review of the Hind Rajab Foundation's complaint. The WMA will continue to operate with the IMA as a full member, with its leaders maintaining their committee roles. The assembly concluded its session in Rotterdam without further disciplinary action against the IMA.
