Knesset to debate withdrawing from WHO over ‘anti-Israel bias, antisemitism’
Health expert says potential departure from international organization would ‘be a source of grief for generations,’ damage Israel’s ability to combat contagions such as winter flu
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
Following President Donald Trump’s announcement that the United States will withdraw from the World Health Organization, Israeli lawmakers were set to meet on Monday to discuss the possibility of Israel following suit.
According to the Knesset website, the Knesset Health Committee will hold a special debate on “Israel’s withdrawal from World Health Organization.” The Walla news site reported that the debate is slated to be held at the request of members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud as well as MKs from the far-right Religious Zionism and Otzma Yehudit parties.
“The organization’s policy is often tainted with antisemitism and clear discrimination against Israel, and constitutes a serious violation of the legitimacy of the State of Israel as a sovereign state,” Walla quoted the lawmakers as arguing.
The organization has been highly critical of Israeli actions during the war against Hamas in Gaza, particularly attacks on hospitals. Israel says Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza use hospitals as staging grounds for attacks, an allegation that has been confirmed by captured terrorists.
WHO has refuted the allegations and charged that such claims may endanger its staff on the ground.
A potential withdrawal from the organization would be damaging, according to Prof. Nadav Davidovitch, the head of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s School of Public Health, who told the Ynet news site that as a small country, Israel relies on international cooperation to defend itself against harmful contagions.
“If, for example, we don’t receive the knowledge of flu strains that we need to include in the winter vaccine because the WHO won’t give us this information, or how to act in response to antibiotic resistance — an issue that has been defined as one of the most significant risks to public health — it will simply harm us,” Davidovitch said of the potential measure.
He also noted the crucial work of the WHO in combating polio in the region, for example its operation to vaccinate Gazan children against the disease, and the international cooperation it facilitated to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
He emphasized that there is a need to differentiate between the WHO’s assembly, which has passed motions critical of Israel, and the actual institution that Israel works with, based in Europe, which deeply appreciates Jerusalem’s participation.
“Knesset members who initiated this debate are taking minor things that don’t really impact fieldwork, which we can oppose and express our disagreement through the usual channels, and are simply seeking to destroy the entire existing relationship, something that will be a source of grief for generations,” Davidovich said.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
