Huckabee says US would share medical data if Israel leaves WHO

“The World Health Organization has long since ceased to operate as a professional and objective organization,” MK Limor Sonn Har Melech said during a Knesset discussion on the matter.

US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, informed the Israeli Health Committee that the United States would share all medical data with Israel if it decides to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), according to a Knesset press release on January 20.

The release recounted an internal debate within the Israeli Health Committee, where committee chair MK Limor Sonn Har Melech revealed that she had discussed the possibility of Israel leaving the WHO at length with Ambassador Huckabee.

“In this conversation, a very clear message arose on the part of the new administration in Washington. The ambassador said that the United States was reexamining its entire relationship with UN institutions, whether it is UNRWA or the WHO.” 

She continued, “The current American approach is businesslike and sober - they first check what they are giving compared with what they are receiving. [Huckabee] said that Israel should ask itself the exact same question. We are paying taxpayer funds of Israel's citizens to be members of the WHO, but what we get in return is not suitable recompense, to say the least. The ambassador said something simple: that they're not willing to pay a provider that doesn't give good results.”

MK Sonn Har Melech additionally stated that Huckabee made it clear the United States would back Israel in any sovereign decision it made - "whether we decide to stay or to withdraw.”

US-Israel friendship firmer than ever

“The American friendship and backing are firmer than ever," said MK Sonn Har Melech.

When MK Sone Har Melech asked Ambassador Huckabee whether the US would continue to collaborate with Israel and share medical findings and critical information in the event of another global pandemic if it withdrew from the WHO, the Ambassador responded, "ff course." He added that the US had more professional capabilities and superior research institutes.

“The World Health Organization has long since ceased to operate as a professional and objective organization.”  MK Sonn Har Melech said.

“The organization cooperates - tacitly and at times also actively - with the cynical and criminal use made by Hamas of hospitals in Gaza as bases for terrorism, and the organization's director general chooses to attack Israel, which is defending itself."

The Israeli Health Committee debate went on to discuss the WHO organization's bias against the state of Israel, and members highlighted key examples in the meeting.

WHO's bias againts Israel

Former Member of Knesset Moshe Feiglin accused the organization of directly assisting Al-Shifa Hospital while Israeli hostages were held there, asserting that they must have known about this situation. He also claimed that the organization provided false information to the UN regarding the number of casualties in Gaza. Feiglin stated that continued collaboration with this organization would limit Israel's freedom of action.

MK Tally Gotliv accused physicians who support Israel's continued membership in the organization of a “degraded culture of silencing and [supporting] membership in an organization that falsely accuses Israel of genocide, while it remains completely silent on the atrocities committed on October 7."

However, not all committee members agreed on the idea of Israel cutting ties with the WHO.

Dr. Sefi Mendelovich, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, emphasized the importance of remaining part of the WHO despite criticisms regarding its stance on Israel and professional disagreements.

He stated that Israel retains its sovereignty in decision-making and that membership in the WHO offers significant benefits, including research collaborations, assistance during epidemics, access to databases, epidemic monitoring, real-time updates on disease outbreaks, and standardization and regulation.

Prof. Yasmin Maor, head of the Israel Society for Infectious Diseases, stated that the United States lacks an updated information network for tracking epidemic outbreaks, unlike the World Health Organization.

~ jpost.com