Huckabee Claims Medical Data Sharing Would Continue if Israel Quits WHO

The United States will fully support Israel if it chooses to leave the World Health Organization (WHO) and will continue to share all medical research and critical health data, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee reportedly told members of the Knesset Health Committee on January 20.

In a high-level discussion that marks a serious turning point in Israel’s relationship with the UN-backed health agency, committee chair MK Limor Sonn Har Melech disclosed that she had extensively discussed the potential withdrawal with Ambassador Huckabee. According to the official Knesset press release, Huckabee emphasized that the Biden administration is reassessing its engagement with multiple UN institutions including WHO and UNRWA through a pragmatic, results-based lens.

“The ambassador said something simple: that they’re not willing to pay a provider that doesn’t give good results,” said MK Sonn Har Melech. She added that Huckabee encouraged Israel to examine what it gives and receives in return for its membership in the WHO, describing U.S.-Israel cooperation as “firmer than ever.”

Crucially, Huckabee affirmed that the U.S. would continue close collaboration with Israel in the event of a future global pandemic, even if Israel formally cuts ties with WHO. “Of course,” he responded when asked if medical findings and pandemic data would still be shared. He added that the U.S. possesses advanced research institutions and capabilities that go beyond what the WHO currently offers.

The Health Committee meeting brought long-standing criticisms of the WHO’s anti-Israel bias into sharp focus. MK Sonn Har Melech accused the organization of failing in its core mission, saying it “has long since ceased to operate as a professional and objective organization.” She highlighted the WHO’s silence on Hamas’s militarization of Gaza hospitals and its director general’s repeated attacks on Israel while ignoring the atrocities of October 7.

Former MK Moshe Feiglin went further, accusing the WHO of complicity during the hostage crisis at Al-Shifa Hospital, and supplying false casualty figures to the United Nations. MK Tally Gotliv criticized Israeli doctors who still support WHO membership, accusing them of backing a body that promotes “false genocide accusations” while remaining silent about the real crimes committed against Israelis.

Still, not everyone on the committee agreed. Dr. Sefi Mendelovich, Deputy Director General of the Ministry of Health, warned against leaving the WHO, citing important benefits like access to outbreak monitoring, international regulation standards, and real-time data sharing. Prof. Yasmin Maor added that the U.S., despite its strong research capacity, lacks a global epidemic surveillance network comparable to the WHO.

The debate reflects a growing frustration within Israeli leadership over international bodies that claim neutrality yet consistently align with anti-Israel narratives. At the same time, the U.S.’s stated willingness to deepen bilateral health cooperation may give Israel more diplomatic room to reconsider its membership without jeopardizing public health.

As UN institutions increasingly compromise their legitimacy by pandering to terror-sponsoring regimes, Israel’s steadfast allies are showing that global cooperation can and must be based on truth, not appeasement.

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