Two hospital workers from Bankstown Hospital in Sydney’s southwest have been stood down after they appeared on a video boasting they had killed—and would kill Israeli patients—in their care.
Police have also been brought in to investigate the claims.
The male health worker, who claims to be a doctor, is seen on the video first, speaking to Veifer, and seems jovial until he learns Veifer is Israeli.
The self-proclaimed doctor first tells Veifer he has beautiful eyes, before saying it will be a shame when he dies.
A female medical staffer then enters the screen and insults the Israeli man.
“It’s Palestine’s country, not your country, you piece of [expletive],” she says.
“One day your time will come, and you will die the most horrible death.
“When the time comes, I want you to remember my face so you can understand that you will die the most disgusting death.”
When Veifer asks them what would happen if an Israeli needed treatment in their hospital, the pair respond with shocking statements.
“I won’t treat them, I will kill them,” the woman says.
The man then makes another surprising claim.
Staff, Hospital Under Investigation
New South Wales (NSW) Health Minister Ryan Park described the pair’s comments as “vile, dehumanising, and unacceptable” and said they would never work at a hospital in the state again.Echoing confirmation from Premier Chris Minns, Park said the incident was being fully investigated.
“I have asked NSW Health to launch an urgent investigation to identify the individuals, and they have also referred the matter to NSW Police,” he said.
“There is no place, no place in our hospital and health system for this sort of view to ever, ever take place. There is no place for this sort of perspective in our society.”
NSW Health secretary Susan Pearce said never in her wildest dreams did she think she'd be talking about her staff saying “such horrendous things about our community.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the video as disgusting and vile.
“The footage is sickening and shameful,” he wrote on X.
“These anti-Semitic comments, driven by hate, have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia.”
He supported the move to refer the incident to police for a criminal investigation.
Anti-Semitism Concerns Heightened
Deputy Israeli Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel also commented on the incident.“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,” she said.
“They are expressing criminal intent towards Jewish people—this must be stopped.”
Haskel referred to Australia’s current poor track record on anti-Semitism.
“Anti-Semitism is a disease that is spreading in Australia,” she said.
“This behaviour has to be treated with the highest consequences under the law, and they should, at the very least, be fired.
“They have talked about killing Jews, they show the true racism and hate that the Australian Jewish community is currently enduring.”
Bankstown Hospital will also be reviewed following the incident.
In a statement, the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies expressed concerns.
“The rhetoric captured in this video is deplorable and has no place in our healthcare system,” the statement said.
“That anyone feels comfortable spewing this hatred while wearing NSW branded scrubs is sickening.”
Australian Jewish Association CEO Robert Gregory also said the video was “sickening.”
“The Australian Jewish Association demands the immediate termination of employment of any health workers who threaten to kill Jewish patients and criminal charges where appropriate,” he said.
“The fact that anti-Semitism is appearing in an increasing number of places is a sad indictment on the current situation in Australia.
He noted it was not the first anti-Semitic incident to involve medical workers.
Anti-Hate Laws Toughened
The footage comes just one day after NSW Premier Chris Minns issued a parliamentary statement on anti-Semitism and introduced new laws to help combat it.Minns referenced recent anti-Semitic attacks in NSW, including setting fire to a childcare centre, defacing a synagogue with swastikas, arson, and anti-Jewish slogans that had been painted in numerous locations.
New laws in NSW will make it an offence to display Nazi symbols near a synagogue and will make it an aggravated offence to spray graffiti on a place of worship.
Laws will also be put in place to stop people harassing or intimidating others based on recognising their religion.
The NSW government has also ramped up funding for its Hate Crime Unit.
“One public act of anti-Semitism is too many,” Minns said in the statement.
“A summer of rolling hatred is obviously intolerable.”
NSW Operation Shelter, set up to target anti-Semitic incidents before they happen, has arrested 173 people, with more than 460 charges, while the number of detectives on Strike Force Pearl, set up to combat anti-Semitism, has doubled.
