The campaign for the suspension of the ILCA from World Climbing
The suspension of the Israeli Climbing Association from World Climbing restricts ILCA’s official participation in international climbing competitions. However, Israeli athletes can still compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), provided they meet the eligibility requirements of the Neutral Athletes Policy (which includes military affiliation restrictions, no active support for war or military aggression, individual eligibility assessment, neutral status without national symbols, and mandatory declaration of compliance.).
This allows them to participate in international events and earn individual ranking points, but they cannot represent Israel or the ILCA, compete under its flag, or contribute to the national team rankings.
This is the same exact status that is imposed on the Russian Climbing Federation.
What would a suspension of the ILCA mean for the athletes?
April 2026 – World Climbing agrees to hold an Extraordinary General Assembly
At the World Climbing General Assembly on 23 April 2026, member federations approved a motion to convene an Extraordinary General Assembly in July to address geopolitical issues, including the proposed suspension of three national federations: Israel, Russia and Belarus.
This represented an important step forward, bringing the question of the ILCA's membership before World Climbing's highest governing body.
July 2026 – Motions to suspend Israel, Russia and Belarus
Ahead of the Extraordinary General Assembly, motions were submitted calling for the suspension of the Israeli, Russian and Belarusian climbing federations. If approved, the suspension of the ILCA would represent a historic precedent, potentially marking the first suspension of an Israeli national federation by the international governing body of an Olympic sport.
However, shortly before the Assembly, the national federations of the United States, Australia and Cyprus submitted alternative motions seeking to remove the country-specific suspension votes from the agenda and replace them with a proposal for a general framework governing national federation participation.
23 July 2026 – The vote on Israel's suspension is blocked
At the Extraordinary General Assembly, the proposals submitted by the United States, Australia and Cyprus were combined into a single procedural motion by World Climbing. Rather than proceeding with the votes on the suspension of the three federations, delegates were asked to support the development of a future principles-based framework.
The procedural motion passed by a narrow majority, preventing the votes on the suspension of Israel, Russia and Belarus from taking place. Despite the decision not to proceed with these votes, the existing restrictions on the Russian Climbing Federation remained in place, while the Israeli Climbing Association retained its full membership and participation rights.
As a result, the General Assembly made no recommendation to suspend any of the three federations. Instead, World Climbing committed to developing a framework for addressing national federation membership and participation, based on principles including governance, proportionality and non-discrimination.
July 2026 – World Climbing refers allegations against the ILCA to its Disciplinary Commission
Following the Extraordinary General Assembly, World Climbing's Executive Board approved the referral of allegations concerning possible breaches of its statutes by the ILCA and the Russian Climbing Federation to its Disciplinary Commission.
October 2026 – Where do things stand now?
Despite the evidence submitted, the sustained international campaign and the convening of an Extraordinary General Assembly, the ILCA has not been suspended from World Climbing.
Israeli athletes and officials continue to participate in international climbing competitions under existing eligibility rules. Meanwhile, Russian and Belarusian athletes remain subject to restrictions requiring them to compete under neutral status.
Although World Climbing has referred the allegations against the ILCA to its Disciplinary Commission, important questions remain concerning the investigation's scope, independence, transparency and timetable.
We continue to demand that World Climbing investigate the evidence presented, apply its statutes consistently and take meaningful action to ensure that international climbing does not contribute to violations of Palestinian rights.
This timeline was last updated in October 2026. All relevant documents, statements and media coverage can be found under our News tab.
Over the past year, Climbers for Palestine has presented evidence to World Climbing and its national member federations documenting the Israeli Climbing Association's (ILCA) alleged involvement in the development, promotion and exploitation of climbing areas in the occupied Palestinian West Bank. Based on this evidence, we have supported calls from the Palestinian Climbing Association for the suspension of the ILCA for alleged violations of international law and World Climbing's own statutes.
Following sustained pressure from activists and national climbing federations, the issue was brought onto the agenda of World Climbing's 2026 General Assembly. However, due to the war involving Iran and the resulting security concerns and travel restrictions in the region, the in-person Assembly, originally scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, was moved online. World Climbing subsequently reduced the agenda to statutory matters, removing the proposed discussions on the suspension of the ILCA.
For as long as the ILCA is a member of World Climbing and the UIAA, the international federations will remain complicit in the crimes outlined in our "Case and Evidence” section.
World Climbing and the UIAA are also guilty on their own right of breaching ICJ’s 2024 ruling by legitimizing those crimes. Furthermore, World Climbing and the UIAA are in breach of their own statutes and code of conduct, as well as the Olympic Charter, by endorsing the work of a federation that implements an apartheid regime in climbing.
The fact that World Climbing and the UIAA are willing to breach international human rights law and their own statutes and codes of ethics is indefensible. World Climbing and the UIAA must be held fully accountable.
The campaign for the suspension of the ILCA from the UIAA
We request the Executive Body of the UIAA to call for an extraordinary General Assembly for the exclusion of the membership of the Israeli Climbing Association, as per their AoA:
“The General Assembly has the following duties and powers to decide on admission and expulsion of members on the recommendation of the Management Board, neither such decision requiring justification”
As World Climbing, the UIAA issued on February 25th 2022 and March 3rd 2022 two statements on Ukraine in which they swiftly: (1) cancelled all UIAA events in Russia, (2) suspend all UIAA officials from Russia, (3) excluded all Delegates from the Russian Mountaineering Federation (RMF) and Russian officials and athletes from all UIAA-sanctioned activities and events, (4) banned any applications from Russia and the RMF for future hosting of UIAA-sanctioned events and projects. In a statement on September 15th 2020, the UIAA reconfirmed its decisions “to protect the safety and security of the Ice Climbing community and the integrity of the sport. A recent athletes and event organisers survey has also produced very clear results that are in line with the [Executive Body’s] decisions.”
We demand the UIAA take the same measure against Israel:
cancelled all UIAA events in Israel
suspend all UIAA officials from Israel
excluded all Delegates from the Israel Climbing Association and Israeli officials and athletes from all UIAA-sanctioned activities and events
banned any applications from Israel and the Israel Climbing Association for future hosting of UIAA-sanctioned events and projects
Admission only for athletes who can demonstrate that they are not involved in military activities or openly support violations of international law.