Two nurses in Sydney face criminal investigation after threatening to deny treatment to Israeli patients in a video that went viral on social media, the Australian Associated Press reported Wednesday.
The footage showed a male nurse in NSW Health uniform falsely claiming to be a doctor, making threatening statements toward the Israeli social media user Max Veifer. A female nurse later appeared in the video, making additional threats about denying treatment to Israeli patients.
NSW Health executives overseeing 180,000 staff members launched an immediate investigation after the footage appeared online early Wednesday morning. The video showed the nurses, who were completing what would become their final shift at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's southwest, making anti-Israeli statements during a random video chat with an Israeli social media influencer who has more than 100,000 followers.
"I'm so upset that you're Israeli ... eventually you're going to get killed and go to (hell)", the man, dressed in medical scrubs, told Veifer. "One day, God willing, you will die in the most horrific way," the woman nurse tells him. When he asked her, "What if an Israeli comes to this hospital," they said they would not treat them. The man then elaborates, "You have no idea how many Israelis arrived here, and I sent them to hell," to which the woman giggles.
"These antisemitic comments, driven by hate, have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, Australian Associated Press reported. He described the comments as "vile" and supported the investigation into the nurses' conduct.
Health Minister Ryan Park confirmed the nurses had been identified. "These people will never work in NSW hospitals again," Park said, according to Australian Associated Press. He advised any staff members sympathizing with such views to not return to work.
NSW Police said a task force focusing on antisemitism is investigating the threats. Park confirmed that an initial investigation found no evidence supporting claims that Israeli patients had been denied treatment or harmed, though a more thorough probe would follow.
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies President David Ossip condemned the incident. "That anyone feels comfortable spewing this hatred while wearing NSW branded scrubs is sickening," Ossip said, adding that healthcare workers holding such views should not be registered in Australia.
Michael Whaites, acting general secretary of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association, emphasized that practitioners must follow a code of conduct requiring care for all people, stating that the union stands for peace and defends the global human right to healthcare.
In recent weeks, there has been a spate of antisemitic incidents in Australia, including the targeting of various synagogues in Melbourne and Sydney to protest Israel's war against Hamas.
