HHS to investigate American Psychological Association over alleged Jew-hatred, anti-Israel bias
The US Department of Health and Human Services is investigating the American Psychological Association following allegations of antisemitic discrimination, the Louis D.Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law announced on Wednesday.The Brandeis Center filed a complaint with HHS on Aug.
8, 2025, alleging that the APA has “become one of the worst purveyors of antisemitism and extremist ideology in healthcare.” The complaint states that the association, which has more than 172,000 members, receives millions of dollars in federal funding annually.“We are very pleased that HHS has recognized these problems and is investigating the APA,” Rebecca Harris, a litigation staff attorney at the Brandeis Center, told JNS.(JNS sought comment from HHS and the APA.)The complaint alleges that Jewish and Israeli current and former APA members reported that the association promoted “Decolonizing Therapy,” which treats Zionism as a mental illness.
Harris said the association sponsors continuing education courses that psychologists are required to take to maintain their licenses, and states entrust it with accrediting those courses.“You have anti-Israel activist psychologists teaching courses about ‘psychic militancy’ and teaching about how to incorporate the ‘resistance’ or the ‘Palestinian liberation struggle’ into the clinical practice of mental health care,” Harris told JNS.She added that these teachers also use mental health terminology, like calling Zionists “psychotic,” that “advances political activism that is dangerous to Americans, but particularly Jewish Americans.”The complaint also alleges that the association’s conferences have featured sessions promoting “Decolonizing Therapy” and portraying the Oct.
7 attacks in Israel as attacks on military targets.It further cites messages sent by association members through listservs that “glorify Hamas, call for boycotts of Israel, compare Gaza to the Warsaw ghetto and pray for Israel�...