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🇮🇱 Israel /Health & Science

Antisemitism, antizionism, hostility 'deeply rooted' within Doctors Without Borders (MSF), NGO says

From Jerusalem Post · () English

Summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • A new report by NGO Monitor claims Doctors Without Borders (MSF) harbors deeply rooted antisemitism and anti-Israel bias.
  • The report cites internal staff communications and testimonials from former employees alleging widespread prejudice within the organization.
  • Former MSF officials and staff members describe a culture where Israel is demonized and Jewish staff face hostility.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) is accused of harboring deeply rooted antisemitism and anti-Israel hostility within its organizational culture, according to a new report by NGO Monitor. The report, titled 'Documenting the Antisemitic Organizational Culture of Doctors Without Borders,' compiles internal staff conversations and personal testimonies from Jewish employees to illustrate the alleged pervasive bias.

Antisemitism within MSF began under the cover of anti-Zionism. It [the ideological shift] cannot be fixed. How can you fix antisemitism, which is not an opinion but a mental disease?

— Richard RossinFormer MSF Secretary-General describing the alleged ideological shift within the organization.

NGO Monitor asserts that antisemitism and anti-Israel bias are widespread, affecting both high-ranking officials and lower-level staff. The report draws on testimonials from former MSF insiders, including Richard Rossin, the former Secretary-General, who stated in July 2024 that ideological bias against Israel became perceptible around the early 1980s. Rossin described the issue as a "mental disease" that cannot be fixed.

I think now MSF in Gaza is really taking the side [of] Hamas and against Israel. Americans need to know that Doctors Without Borders is not anymore the organization that it was 15 or 20 years ago. It has become a biased, partial and militant organization.

— Alain DestexheFormer MSF Secretary-General expressing his view on the organization's current stance.

Further evidence comes from Alain Destexhe, an MSF doctor in the 1980s and its Secretary-General in the 1990s. In an October 2025 interview, Destexhe claimed MSF in Gaza now sides with Hamas against Israel, asserting it has become a "biased, partial and militant organization." He directly stated, "MSF is lying, MSF is partial, MSF is biased, and MSF are accomplices of Hamas."

MSF is lying, MSF is partial, MSF is biased, and MSF are accomplices of Hamas.

— Alain DestexheA strong accusation from a former MSF leader regarding the organization's actions.

Michael Goldfarb, who worked for MSF/Doctors Without Borders US for 15 years, shared his experiences with The Jewish Chronicle of London in March 2026. He reported that European colleagues openly told him, knowing he is Jewish, that Israel lacks the right to exist. Goldfarb described seeing "extreme ideological fervor, Israel as a Nazi state, Jews as the oppressive, colonial, white supremacists, Zionism as Nazism." He believes MSF has done nothing meaningful to address this antisemitism or support its Jewish staff, creating a permissive environment for hate.

European colleagues freely told me, knowing I am Jewish, that Israel doesn’t have a right to exist.

— Michael GoldfarbA former MSF employee sharing experiences of antisemitism within the organization.
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Originally published by Jerusalem Post. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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