Following the exposure by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism that the EuroMed organization is headed by a Hamas operative, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism has recommended preventing the entry of 40 activists from the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor organization into Israel. The entry prevention was carried out in accordance with the policy of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli.
In this context, Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Director General Avi Cohen Scali, recommended - in accordance with Amendment No. 40 to the Law of Entry into Israel and following an agreement with the Population and Immigration Authority - against granting entry visas to the organization's activists into Israel. Additionally, the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism has established a dedicated website that exposes the truth behind the "Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor" organization.
Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli said: "After exposing the true identity of the EuroMed organization, which uses the guise of 'human rights' to promote terrorist activities, I have instructed the Director General of my ministry, Avi Cohen Scali, to prevent the entry of 40 of the organization's activists into Israel. The days when a humanitarian guise could be exploited to promote terrorism are over. We will continue to expose, thwart, and act against any entity operating against the State of Israel, regardless of the name they choose to hide behind."
Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Director General Avi Cohen Scali said: "EuroMed activists work to spread false information against the State of Israel. Let Hamas personnel and terrorist organizations, who don the guise of human rights organizations, know that Israel will hold them accountable for defaming it, even if they staff offices in 'neutral' countries. We will hold accountable anyone who slanders the State of Israel."
Among the activists whose entry will not be approved are the founder and chairman of the organization, the chairman of the board of trustees, the director of the organization's Lebanon branch, the chief operating officer (COO), a media advisor, the head of media and public engagement, the head of editing, the head of policy, a senior projects editor, a senior mentor coordinator, the director of the legal department, a legal advisor, a migration and asylum researcher, a legal researcher, a communications coordinator, a digital media manager, a media assistant (female), a media assistant (male), a media researcher, a public relations assistant, a program coordinator, the head of refugee and migrant affairs, a researcher (male), a researcher (female), a chief financial officer, a project manager, a project coordinator, an internal auditor, a department coordinator, the head of policy advocacy, the head of public relations and policy advocacy, a campaigns coordinator and researcher, the head of community relations and partnerships, an editor, a translator, a filmmaker, and others.
The EuroMed organization recently gained exposure due to a report by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, and because Pulitzer Prize winner Nicholas Kristof relied on the organization's data in an article published in the New York Times under the headline "The Silence Over Rape Against Palestinians."
As stated in the report by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor organization promotes anti-Israel activity, delegitimization, and boycotts, including at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The organization is registered in Switzerland and operates from Geneva, presenting itself as a regional human rights body focusing on the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. In practice, however, it is an entity whose primary activity focuses on harming Israel and its interests.
The EuroMed organization operates systematically to shape an anti-Israel narrative in various arenas, including international institutions, the media, academia, and open-knowledge platforms (Wikipedia). Furthermore, patterns have been identified involving the use of partial or unverified information to establish severe allegations against the State of Israel, including genocide, deliberate starvation, and even accusations of organ harvesting, calls for boycotts, arms embargoes, and actions to suspend the Association Agreement with the European Union. The organization also extensively criticizes Israeli policy in the Palestinian territories and proposes steps that can be seen as part of the BDS campaign's goals, calling for the imposition of sanctions, commercial boycotts, and the cessation of arms trade with Israel. At the same time, the report by the Ministry of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism points out that the organization, headed by Abdu, promotes allegations of "systemic sexual violence" and calls for Israel to be included on the UN "blacklist."
The founder and chairman of Human Rights Monitor is Ramy Abdu, a Hamas operative declared as such by the State of Israel. In 2020, the then-Minister of Defense signed an administrative seizure order against him under the Counter-Terrorism Law due to his activity as a board member of the Palestine organization, which was declared by Israel as a terrorist organization affiliated with Hamas.
The organization's activity is carried out in a multi-pronged format, including field documentation, submitting documents to UN mechanisms, and promoting legal proceedings in the international arena. In this context, the organization provided South Africa's legal team at the International Court of Justice in The Hague with an evidentiary framework to substantiate the claim of genocide committed by Israel, which includes alleged documentation of mass graves and evidence of harm to the healthcare system.
Abdu has published anti-Israel views while expressing support for the October 7 massacre. In a post he published on May 31, 2025, he wrote: "If October 7 is perceived as a justification for genocide and displacement, then by the same logic, what Israel did - the siege on Gaza, controlling life, killing hundreds every year in cold blood, occupying territories for decades, and expanding settlements - justifies a million October 7s." In a post published on January 31, 2026, he wrote: "Israel will continue to kill and displace Palestinians under any circumstances, even if they are defenseless. No matter the promises, our people and their resistance must never lay down their arms. Never."
The chairman of the organization's board of trustees, Richard Falk, served for six years as the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories and noted that "a people subjected to prolonged occupation have a right to resistance anchored in international law." Regarding the events of October 7, he claimed that "some of the reports on Hamas's conduct were exaggerated, and expressed doubt regarding Israel's version of events."