Following allegations against Rambam: 'Incitement against doctors is crossing a red line'

Senior figures in the Israeli healthcare system are coming to the defense of Rambam Medical Center staff in Haifa after serious allegations were made against Arab staff members. Israel Medical Association chairman Prof. Zion Hagai, the Mirsham organization, and State Doctors' Organization chairman Dr. Ze'ev Feldman warn against incitement, racism, and damage to public trust. Prof. Hagai Levin calls the allegations a 'dangerous blood libel.'

Senior figures in the Israeli healthcare system are coming to the defense of the staff at Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, after serious allegations were made in recent days against Arab medical staff at the hospital. Family members of a hospitalized soldier claimed that during a shift change, only Arab staff remained in the ward, the doors were locked, and one staff member 'lifted him like a sardine' and slammed his head into the bed. Israel Medical Association chairman Prof. Zion Hagai said that Rambam's management investigation did not substantiate the claims, and that the healthcare system is a 'beacon of equality, tolerance, and coexistence.' The Mirsham organization defined the incitement as 'crossing a red line' and called on managements to stand behind their staff. State Doctors' Organization chairman Dr. Ze'ev Feldman visited the intensive care unit to support the staff and called on politicians to 'remove their hands' from the healthcare system. Prof. Hagai Levin, chairman of the Public Health Physicians Association, described the allegations as a 'dangerous blood libel' aimed at dismantling the system from within. These statements reflect concern over damage to public trust in doctors and hospitals, amid ethnic tensions.