The International Federation of Medical Student Associations, IFMSA, decided by a two-thirds majority vote to suspend the association of students from Israel for two years because of the war in Gaza and accusations of genocide and "a lack of morals and humanitarian values," Ynet has learned.
The move was initiated by the Brazilian association and brought up for a vote in a meeting held over Zoom earlier in the week. The Israeli representative to the international body Miri Shvimmer, said the proposal was rushed through at the end of the meeting without following the standard practice of announcing it in advance.
The International Federation of Medical Student Associations is a non-governmental organization representing medical student groups from 123 countries on six continents. The organization which was founded in 1951, is headquartered in Denmark.
The Brazilians initially attempted to pass a resolution ousting Israel altogether. Still, after that was rejected, a two-thirds majority of members agreed on a two-year suspension that would be reviewed in August of 2025 and again in August of 2026. If it is not reversed or changed, the suspension will become a permanent removal of Israel from the international forum.
"Although the organization is defined as non-political, they do political things. After the October 7 massacre, I called on the organization to condemn the massacre. So far I have not received an official condemnation," Shvimmer said. "The conference proceeded as usual, there were plenaries and votes. Everything is democratic. When you want to raise an issue for a vote, you announce it two months in advance. but this was well planned and on purpose that they did it on the last day of the conference," she said.
Israel Medical Association chairman Professor Zion Hagay was working to cancel the suspension, which carries the risk of a permanent boycott.
She said Palestinian students, who do not have full state status, prompted the Brazilian delegation to act on their behalf.
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Miri Shvimmer is president of the Israel Medical Students Association
(Photo: Private album)
Shvimmer said her efforts to prevent the decision failed although she described the Israeli association as not political and was inclusive of all faiths. "I told them that if there was an investigation, we would be happy to understand and learn if we were wrong. We talked about the Israeli aid to the Palestinians and our role accused them of delegitimizing us," she said.
Israel Medical Association chairman Professor Zion Hagay protested the decision and demanded that it be revoked, in a letter to the president of the federation, Evangelia Roubou.
"The decision was based on political calculations. The Israeli delegation is not the Israeli government. The Israeli delegation is responsible for government actions just as the Palestinian delegation is responsible for Hamas terrorism," Hagai wrote. "More importantly, Such a move is in direct contradiction to the goal of the federation, which is to bring together medical students from all parts of the world. If there are differences of opinion, the goal should be to discuss them, not to engage in drastic measures such as suspending an entire delegation. On a technical level, it is far from clear on what basis the Israeli delegation can be removed," he said.
"According to the Federation constitution, if an association violates any law of the Federation constitution, the General Assembly may vote on suspension only after an official investigation is completed and adequate proof of the violation is presented," Hagay wrote. "Our position is that no there was no violation of any part of the IFMSA constitution. Furthermore, there was no proper procedure for the Israeli delegation to prepare a defense. We have a lot of experience in the international arena and in dealing with internal conflicts with confidence. Any move on your part to suspend the Israeli delegation will not solve anything and will harm the objectives you are striving to present. It seems to us that it was not a proper procedure and should be rejected at this stage."