A nurse in Australia has been charged with making death threats and other offences after a video surfaced online, allegedly showing hospital staff boasting about harming and denying treatment to Israeli patients.
New South Wales Police announced on Wednesday that a 26-year-old woman had been charged with three offences, including making threats of violence against a group and using a carriage service to threaten to kill. Identified by local media as Sarah Abu Lebdeh, she has been placed under strict bail conditions, including a ban on leaving Australia or using social media, according to NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb.
Abu Lebdeh is scheduled to appear in court in Sydney on March 19.
The controversy began when footage of two Sydney hospital employees making inflammatory remarks about Israeli patients went viral on social media. In an online video chat shared by Israeli content creator Max Veifer, Abu Lebdeh allegedly stated she would refuse treatment to Israelis and would "kill them." The video also featured a male hospital staff member, identified in reports as Ahmad Rashad Nadir, who allegedly claimed he had sent many Israeli patients to "Jahannam" (hell in Arabic). However, Nadir has not been charged.
Health authorities have banned both individuals from working in healthcare "in any context," while Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the incident as "disgusting, sickening, and shameful." Officials have stated that no evidence has been found suggesting any patients were harmed.
The case comes amid a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in Australia, including an alleged bomb plot and arson attacks on synagogues. Advocacy groups report a surge in both anti-Semitic and Islamophobic incidents following Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza.
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