An Australian hospital is examining patient records after a nurse claimed online to have killed Israelis, officials said Wednesday, stressing that no evidence of harm to patients was uncovered.
The claim appears to have been the latest in a surge antisemitic attacks and rhetoric that have roiled Australia as homes, offices and businesses have been vandalised and a school and two synagogues were torched in just over a year with crimes targeting Jews.
A police strike force, established to focus on the antisemitic crimes in Sydney since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, was investigating potential offenses stemming from the online video, including breaches of hate speech law, New South Wales state Health Minister Ryan Park said.
Hate crime officials in Sydney and Melbourne — the nation’s largest cities where 85% of Australia’s Jewish population lives — are separately investigating the discovery of a trailer containing explosives, a list of potential Jewish targets and arson attacks on two synagogues.
Two nurses who took part in an online discussion with Israeli influencer Max Veifer during a night shift on Tuesday at Sydney’s Bankstown Hospital were suspended on Wednesday, and Park said they would never work for the state health department again.
“They are vile, disgusting and deranged individuals,” Park told reporters.
Authorities responded within hours after the video of the nurses, a man and woman who have not been named, was posted online. Attempts to directly contact the nurses were unsuccessful and Veifer did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In the video, the two nurses purported to be doctors, according to department secretary Susan Pearce. There was no immediate information from their supervisors.
In the video, the female nurse said she wouldn't treat an Israeli patient but kill them while the male nurse used expletives and a throat-slitting gesture.
Park, the regional health minister, said an investigation into Bankstown Hospital has found no evidence of Jewish patients being hurt.
“To the Jewish community today, I say not only am I sorry, but I can assure you this: the care that you get in our hospitals will continue to be first class,” Park said, adding that the hospital's past record would also be looked into.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, an advocacy group, described the video as “absolutely chilling and horrific.”
“The brazen way, the open and confident manner in which these people spoke about killing and torturing and wishing death upon Israelis, and particularly coming from our medical professionals who we look to for care and support, was a ghastly thing to see and it should never have happened.” Ryvchin told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
