A 'Respected' Medical Journal's War Against Doctors
[T]he pro-Hamas lobby is circulating a mass petition calling for the expulsion of the Israeli Medical Association from the World Medical Association.
The petition – which blames the Israeli doctors for alleged bias and omits any mention of Hamas' war crimes – was amplified in June by once-respected UK medical journal The Lancet, clearly crossing the line between professional medical publication and blatant propaganda.
Far from providing medical evidence or reflecting professional ethics, the petition, as echoed by The Lancet, recycles political slogans and ancient blood libels, accusing Israel of "genocide" and the destruction of Gaza's health system. Of course, there is no mention of the overwhelming evidence of Hamas's systematic militarization of hospitals and other civilian medical facilities – all actual war crimes.
In promoting this campaign, The Lancet copied the accusations of fringe activist NGOs including the People's Health Movement (PHM), Doctors for Gaza (Artsen voor Gaza), and the "Health Advisory Council" of the so-called Jewish Voice for Peace. Even a cursory review makes clear that the petition touted by this ostensible medical journal is not remotely about medical ethics.
By parroting these NGOs and violating fundamental requirements for a scientific journal, The Lancet does not make even a minimal attempt to examine their credibility and embrace of terror.
Unsurprisingly, this isn't the first time journal editor Richard Horton has used The Lancet to publish anti-Israel propaganda. From 2001 to 2014, a majority of the publication's output regarding Israeli and Palestinian issues – 58.3% of its 264 items – took the form of political commentary rather than medical research.
The Lancet dismisses any mention of Hamas' responsibility for Gaza's medical plight as mere Israeli claims, despite extensive documentation.
Additionally, neither this medical journal nor the NGOs leading the petition have ever asked any other civilian medical associations to condemn their home states' military operations. The list includes Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and other actual violators of human rights and international law.
With Horton and The Lancet again at the forefront of a hate directed at Israeli doctors, and under the thin facade of scientific publishing, an effective response is necessary that will get the attention of the journal's Dutch publisher, Elsevier.
Among the many orchestrated campaigns to demonize Israel, the targeting of Israeli doctors and medical professionals under the false flag of "human rights" is one of the most transparently cynical. Specifically, the pro-Hamas lobby is circulating a mass petition calling for the expulsion of the Israeli Medical Association from the World Medical Association.
The petition – which blames the Israeli doctors for alleged bias and omits any mention of Hamas' war crimes – was amplified in June by once-respected UK medical journal The Lancet, clearly crossing the line between professional medical publication and blatant propaganda.
Far from providing medical evidence or reflecting professional ethics, the petition, as echoed by The Lancet, recycles political slogans and ancient blood libels, accusing Israel of "genocide" and the destruction of Gaza's health system. Of course, there is no mention of the overwhelming evidence of Hamas's systematic militarization of hospitals and other civilian medical facilities – all actual war crimes.
In promoting this campaign, The Lancet copied the accusations of fringe activist NGOs including the People's Health Movement (PHM), Doctors for Gaza (Artsen voor Gaza), and the "Health Advisory Council" of the so-called Jewish Voice for Peace. Even a cursory review makes clear that the petition touted by this ostensible medical journal is not remotely about medical ethics. Instead, it's one more part of the heinous effort to isolate and delegitimize Israeli institutions in the wake of Hamas's October 7 massacre. In essence, this is another front of Hamas's war against the people and institutions of the Jewish state.
By parroting these NGOs and violating fundamental requirements for a scientific journal, The Lancet does not make even a minimal attempt to examine their credibility and embrace of terror. For example, PHM's newly-appointed global coordinator, Aziz Rhali, publicly celebrated October 7 as "Victory Day," and participated in mob violence supporting "Palestinian resistance" immediately afterward. He has also expressed support for Hezbollah, and its late leader, arch-terrorist Hassan Nasrallah.
Unsurprisingly, this isn't the first time journal editor Richard Horton has used The Lancet to publish anti-Israel propaganda. From 2001 to 2014, a majority of the publication's output regarding Israeli and Palestinian issues – 58.3% of its 264 items – took the form of political commentary rather than medical research. This culminated in the 2014 publication of a notorious "Open Letter for the People of Gaza," a propaganda screed whose hate-filled co-authors (doctors) had emailed colleagues a message entitled "CNN Goldman Sachs & the Zio Matrix" that promoted a video featuring white supremacist Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke among other antisemitic materials.
After calls for Horton's removal gained high visibility, he embarked on an Israel apology tour and vowed change. He even published a special edition on Israeli medical advances. But following Hamas' October 7 atrocities, he regressed to his old poisonous ways, culminating in last month's NGO-led boycott petition. The articles repeating accusations of "war crimes" including "genocide" have no legal or factual basis, and were obviously fabricated to divert attention from Hamas's mass slaughter. Doing its part in this theater of the absurd, The Lancet dismisses any mention of Hamas's responsibility for Gaza's medical plight as mere Israeli claims, despite extensive documentation.
Additionally, neither this medical journal nor the NGOs leading the petition have ever asked any other civilian medical associations to condemn their home states' military operations. The list includes Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Sudan, and other actual violators of human rights and international law. The petition's premise is thus a glaring double standard.
The consequences of this trajectory extend well beyond Israel. As politics increasingly overtakes scientific institutions, physicians and researchers are pressured to conform to ideological and immoral litmus tests unrelated to medicine. As a result, academic journals, professional associations, and humanitarian organizations risk becoming seen by serious medical professionals as simply another form of mass manipulation.
With Horton and The Lancet again at the forefront of a hate directed at Israeli doctors, and under the thin facade of scientific publishing, an effective response is necessary that will get the attention of the journal's Dutch publisher, Elsevier. At its core, The Lancet is a business like any other, and when readers stop reading, subscribers pull their subscriptions, top researchers stop submitting articles, and advertisers go elsewhere, the leadership change will follow.
Prof. Gerald Steinberg is founder and president of the NGO Monitor research institute, and professor emeritus of political science at Bar Ilan University.
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