Two nurses at a western Sydney hospital have been stood down after a video circulating on social media appeared to show them bragging about refusing to treat Israeli patients and saying they would "kill them" if they came under their care.
Footage shared by Israeli content creator Max Veifer shows him speaking to a man, whom SBS News can identify as Ahmad Rashad Nadir, in a NSW Health uniform via Chatruletka, an app that connects users for video chats at random.
In the video, Nadir claims he is a doctor at a hospital and compliments the Israeli before saying he is "so upset" to hear where he is from.
"Eventually you're going to get killed and you're going to go to (hell)," Nadir says.
"It's Palestine's country, not your country," a woman who then enters the frame adds.
"One day your time will come ... you will die the most disgusting death," she says. The woman is also wearing what appears to be a NSW Health uniform.
When Veifer asks what would happen if an Israeli sought treatment at the hospital they work at, the woman said: "I won't treat them, I'll kill them".
Nadir added: "You have no idea how many Israeli ... came to this hospital and ... I send them to (hell)."
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said on Wednesday morning that the two healthcare workers in the "appalling" video had been identified as nurses at Bankstown Hospital and stood down immediately, pending a full investigation.
The matter has also been referred to police.
"Those people, subject to that investigation, will not ever be working for New South Wales Health," Park 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 Minister Ryan Park described the video as "appalling". Source: AAP / Mick Tsikas
"We will investigate this uphill and downhill," he said.
"We will not just be looking at this incident per se, but we will also be obviously going through previous cases to make sure that that hospital has been working in a way that reflects those values around safety and care."
NSW Police's Strike Force Pearl, which was established after , is investigating the incident.
"It is crucial police are given time to conduct further interviews and navigate this high-level investigation," NSW police commissioner Karen Webb said.
'Sickening'
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said the rhetoric captured in the video was deplorable.
"That anyone feels comfortable spewing this hatred while wearing NSW-branded scrubs is sickening," he said.
"No healthcare worker who holds these views should be registered in Australia," he added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the footage as "sickening and shameful".
"These antisemitic comments, driven by hate, have no place in our health system and no place anywhere in Australia," he said in a statement.
"These individuals have been stood down by NSW authorities.
"They have rightly been referred to the NSW Police for criminal investigation.
"Individuals found to have committed criminal antisemitic acts will face the full force of our laws."
Australia's peak medical body said doctors, nurses and other health practitioners were "committed to providing the best possible care to every patient".
"AMA NSW condemns in the strongest possible terms today's antisemitic commentary within the health system," Australian Medical Association (AMA) NSW president Dr Kathryn Austin said in a statement.
"The Declaration of Geneva states doctors will not permit considerations of age, disease or disability, creed, ethnic origin, gender, nationality, political affiliation, race, sexual orientation, social standing or any other factor to intervene between their duty and their patient.
"There is no place for hatred or division in the health system and this behaviour will not be tolerated. Our hospitals must remain safe havens for all patients."
The state health worker watchdog was also investigating.
NSW's top health bureaucrat suggested the male nurse faced issues with posing as a doctor, let alone hate speech and workforce policy breaches.
"Everything that you can imagine in my view has been breached," NSW Health secretary Susan Pearce said.
"I offer my sincere apologies."
An initial investigation of incidents and safety issues found no indication the claims that Israeli patients had been denied treatment or killed were true.
But a more thorough investigation is underway.
Practitioners were bound by a code of conduct to care for all people, NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association acting general secretary Michael Whaites said.
"As a union representing the professions of nursing and midwifery we stand for peace, we stand for love, and we defend the global human right to healthcare," he said.
With additional reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
