A newly released report from NGO Monitor claims that anti-Semitism and anti-Israel bias run deep within the culture of Doctors Without Borders — known internationally as Médecins Sans Frontières, or MSF. The findings build on an earlier NGO Monitor publication from April that examined MSF’s public communications regarding the war in Gaza.
The latest report, titled “Documenting the Antisemitic Organizational Culture of Doctors without Borders (MSF),” expands on a prior NGO Monitor publication from April 2026 called “NGO Malpractice: MSF (Doctors Without Borders) and the Gaza ‘Genocide’ Campaign.” That earlier report argued that MSF’s messaging about Israel relied on false testimonies and ran counter to medical ethics and the principle of neutrality. The new report contends those problems stem from a broader organizational culture marked by anti-Semitism, bias against Israel, and repeated expressions of support for Hamas.
To make its case, the report draws on statements from current and former MSF officials, staff members, and board members, as well as internal discussions and public interviews, arguing the organization has strayed from its own stated commitments to neutrality and impartiality.
Among those cited is Alain Destexhe, a former MSF secretary-general who accepted the Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the organization in 1999. In an October 2025 interview, Destexhe stated, “MSF is lying, MSF is partial, MSF is biased and MSF are accomplices of Hamas.” He added that such a level of bias would have been unthinkable during his time leading the organization, saying MSF “has become a biased, partial and militant organization.” The report also references his earlier analysis, in which he argued that MSF failed to condemn Hamas’s October 7 attacks or Hamas’s use of hospitals, while repeatedly criticizing Israel.
The report also includes remarks from Richard Rossin, another former MSF secretary-general, who stated, “Anti-Semitism within MSF began under the cover of anti-Zionism.” Rossin recalled a 2010 incident during a mission in Uganda where an MSF team from the Netherlands refused to collaborate with an Israeli medical organization, which he described as an example of “one-way empathy.”
Michael Goldfarb, who spent more than 15 years working with Doctors Without Borders USA, said Jewish employees faced hostility inside the organization. “European colleagues freely told me, knowing I am Jewish, that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist,” he said. Goldfarb also alleged that complaints about anti-Semitism were not taken seriously and described what he called “extreme ideological fervor” among certain colleagues.
The report references MSF’s internal staff forum, known as the Souk, citing posts from current and former employees that described Israel as a “76-year-old crime scene” and a “textbook example of violent, racist settler colonialism.” One employee reportedly said MSF’s public messaging on the conflict was “one-sided, divisive, and inflammatory,” while an anonymous doctor was quoted saying, “I have never seen this level of polarization within the organization.”
Also cited is Dr. Estrella Lasry, a former consultant and board member at MSF’s Geneva headquarters, who criticized what she described as “the appalling lack of empathy in the organization towards the victims in Israel.” She said an MSF office in the Middle East made an explicit request “not to speak out on behalf of victims in Israel as it would victimize the perpetrators.” The report additionally quotes current employees, identified by pseudonyms, who raised concerns about MSF’s operations in Gaza, its public campaign accusing Israel of genocide, and how the organization internally handled questions about Hamas’s presence in hospitals.
In its conclusion, NGO Monitor calls for sweeping changes at MSF, including replacing current leadership, creating independent oversight mechanisms, and removing staff members it holds responsible for discrimination and anti-Semitism. The organization argues these reforms are essential to restoring MSF’s standing as a neutral provider of humanitarian and medical aid.
