7 THINGS THE ISRAELI MEDICAL ASSOCIATION SAYS
Seven statements by the Israeli Medical Association and its chairman, with sources and context.
1–2
“We succeeded in blocking four attempts [within the World Medical Association] to condemn Israel for its actions in Gaza.” — IMA chairman Zion Hagay (June 14, 2026)
“The issue they wanted to raise [in the WMA] was that Israel was committing genocide. We did not agree to this and removed it from the agenda four times.” — IMA chairman Zion Hagay (June 14, 2026)
Source: Ynet, interview with IMA chairman Zion Hagay (June 14, 2026).
Context: In a June 2026 Ynet interview, Hagay said the IMA had repeatedly blocked attempts within the World Medical Association (WMA) to condemn Israel “for its actions in Gaza,” preventing the issue from reaching the agenda. In the interview, Hagay further described his efforts within the WMA as a “battle” against Israel’s critics.
3
“I believe that the IDF is an army guided by values and an army that adheres to international ethics. I believe there is no intention to harm civilians.” — IMA chairman Zion Hagay (July 22, 2025)
Source: Kipa, interview with IMA chairman Zion Hagay (July 22, 2025).
Context: IMA chairman Zion Hagay said this while the IMA was seeking answers from Israeli authorities about humanitarian conditions and reported deaths around aid distribution in Gaza. He said that, if the reports were accurate, they could constitute serious violations of medical ethics and international law, but added that he believed the IDF was a moral army, adhered to international ethics, and did not intend to harm civilians.
4
“It is a great inversion of reality to accuse Israel of targeting the Gazan healthcare system.” — Letter signed by IMA (January 27, 2025)
Source: Israeli Medical Association et al., Condemning Israeli Medical Boycott Proposal (January 27, 2025).
Context: From a multi-organisation letter opposing calls for a medical boycott of Israel. It rejected accusations that Israel targeted Gaza’s healthcare system and instead emphasized allegations that Hamas used hospitals for military purposes.
5
“We are essentially like Israel’s representatives at the UN, but we are Israel’s representatives in medical organizations around the world.” — IMA chairman Zion Hagay (June 14, 2026)
Source: Ynet, interview with IMA chairman Zion Hagay (June 14, 2026).
Context: In the same Ynet interview, Hagay was describing the IMA’s role in international medical organisations while discussing efforts to suspend it from the WMA, where he served on its Council.
6
“..prisoners there [Sde Teiman] are receiving appropriate medical care.” — IMA letter to The American Journal of Bioethics (April 24, 2024)
Source: Hagay, Z., Walfisch, Y., & Borow, M. (2024). Letter to the Editor. The American Journal of Bioethics, 24(6).
Context: IMA leaders commented on medical care at the Israeli detention facility Sde Teiman after a visit to the facility by an ethics committee involving the IMA. Serious concerns about abuse and medical treatment had already emerged, while subsequent investigations documented extensive evidence of abuse and inadequate medical care (CNN, B’Tselem, Haaretz, The Conversation 1, The Conversation 2, PHR). One senior doctor who had worked at Sde Teiman testified that some doctors “openly declared that they were there to ensure that they [the detainees] were not treated compassionately” (Shomrim). Another doctor warned that inadequate medical care had resulted in “complications and sometimes even in the patient's death” (Haaretz). An Israeli medical whistleblower also told CNN that staff were asked to perform procedures outside their expertise and that minor medical procedures were “frequently done without anesthesia” (CNN). Ethics Bureau chair Yossi Walfisch had personally visited Sde Teiman and subsequently described its medical team as “among the most ethical medical teams” he had encountered, saying that it provided “appropriate medical treatment” within the limitations of the facility, without addressing the specific reports of abuse and inadequate medical care (Doctors Only). He later co-wrote the IMA's Letter to the Editor in The American Journal of Bioethics, which again stated that detainees at Sde Teiman were receiving appropriate medical care. A physician who had witnessed detainee treatment later accused the IMA and Walfisch of accepting and attempting to justify the shackling of detainees at Sde Teiman (Haaretz).
7
“Unlike many hospitals in Gaza which have tragically been conscripted by Hamas, the strike on Soroka [Israeli hospital] is an entirely unjustified attack on civilians.” — IMA chairman Zion Hagay (June 19, 2025)
Source: Hagay, Z. (2025, June 19). Letter to the World Medical Association following the attack on Soroka Hospital. Israeli Medical Association.
Context: In an official IMA letter to the World Medical Association, Hagay condemned an Iranian missile strike on an Israeli hospital (Soroka Medical Center) as a war crime, while distinguishing it from attacks on Gaza hospitals by claiming that “many” had been used by Hamas.