(photo credit: LOREN ELLIOTT/REUTERS)
After Wednesday’s viral circulation of a video of two Australian nurses claiming to have killed Israeli patients and threatening to kill more, the Sydney area medical practitioners have been suspended.
The New South Wales Police Force’s antisemitism task force has taken over the investigation, interviewing staff and seizing CCTV footage. It has identified the likely location within Bankstown Hospital where a male nurse told Israeli English teacher and social-media influencer Max Veifer: “You have no idea how many Israeli s**t dogs have come to this hospital, and I sent them to hell.”
“I won’t treat them, I’ll kill them,” said a female nurse in a hijab, according to a post of a random video chat interaction Veifer posted on his social media account. The video had been temporarily suspended on Instagram.
The female nurse expressed her hope that he would remember her face when he died the “most disgusting death,” trailing off into expletives.
Antisemitism contiues to rise in Australia
“It’s Palestine’s country, not your country, you piece of shit,” said the nurse.
The male nurse, claiming to be a doctor, said at the outset of the conversation: “You have beautiful eyes, but I’m upset that you’re Israeli. Eventually, when you’re killed, you’re going to go to hell.”
There needs to be an investigation immediately into these two Australian medical professionals who are saying they will kill Israeli patients – and suggesting that they already have. They are expressing criminal intent towards Jewish people, this must be stopped.
Antisemitism is… pic.twitter.com/YCX3w9YVcY— Sharren Haskel השכל שרן (@SharrenHaskel) February 11, 2025
As Australian and Israeli officials and Jewish citizens expressed outrage, NSW Police Force Commissioner Karen Webb said Strike Force Pearl was investigating the matter.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Australian Federal Police had offered “whatever assistance” to the state police, Reuters reported.
“This is a sad day for our country,” Webb said. “It is unthinkable that we are confronted with and forced to investigate such an appalling incident.”
New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park said in a post on Facebook: If the “investigation concludes that this behavior has occurred, these individuals will no longer be working for NSW Health.”
In a post on X, Albanese said NSW authorities have suspended the suspects.
NSW Health Secretary Susan Pearce said state authorities had immediately contacted the police and launched its own investigation.
“Please be aware that our hospitals are safe,” she said. “They are safe places, and we have already taken steps to review the safety of the hospital concerned in this matter, and we have identified nothing that indicates the hospital is unsafe. You should be confident that you’ll receive safe care in our hospitals from our dedicated and caring staff.”
Jewish organization reacts
Nevertheless, Australian Jewish Association (AJA) CEO Robert Gregory said his organization was aware of Jewish patients who have decided to hide their identity while visiting the hospital.
“Patients in hospitals are vulnerable, and it is understandable that Jewish patients would have concerns,” he told The Jerusalem Post. “We are hopeful that Jewish and Israeli patients will be treated like everyone else at Australian medical facilities. But nowhere in Australia is immune to the recent surge of antisemitism.”
AJA was concerned about how widespread such views might be, Gregory said, adding that while in this situation the staff members were exposed, but in other cases, staff members might have acted on such views.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said the incident had exposed a harsh reality about how much antisemitism has been normalized in Australian society.
“For more than a year, we have watched as violent rhetoric on our streets has turned into violent attacks, labeled domestic terrorism by law enforcement,” he said. “That two nurses could openly discuss harming Israeli patients is a chilling reminder of how far this has gone.
“While we welcome the swift response from authorities and political leaders who have rightly called this antisemitism for what it is, we must also confront the deeper issue: This did not happen in a vacuum. This is the cost of tolerating hate and demonization of Israel in this country,” Leibler said.
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies said in a post on Facebook it was sickening that the nurses had felt comfortable making the comments while wearing state-branded scrubs.
“The rhetoric captured in this video is deplorable and has no place in our healthcare system,” it said.
Macarthur MP Mike Freelander, himself a doctor, said the incident had “shaken me to my very core as a Jewish Australian.”
“The fact that they come from the area health service that I work in, and live in our society, is disgusting,” he said in an address to Parliament.
Israeli MKs expressed anger and called for an immediate investigation into what Likud MK Dan Illouz called “incitement to murder.”
Religious Zionist Party MK Ohad Tal said the nurses had betrayed their Hippocratic Oaths to “uphold a Nazi-fascist ideology.”
“As chairman of the Israel-Australia Friendship Association, I will be reaching out to my counterpart in Australia today to demand swift action on this matter,” he said.
On Wednesday, Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon spoke with New South Wales Premier Chris Minns, who assured him that all necessary measures were being taken.
The Democrats MK Gilad Kariv said the trend of rising antisemitism in Australia was indicative that Jews were not safe in many places in the world.
“The State of Israel has a moral and historical obligation to the security of Jews living in the Diaspora,” he said, promising to prioritize fighting against antisemitism if he assumes leadership of the Immigration and Diaspora Committee.
New Hope-United Right MK Sharren Haskel said the incident had occurred as antisemitism surged in Australia at “an alarming rate, increasing by hundreds of percent.”
Source : https://www.jpost.com/international/article-841895
