Whoever incites against the Arab doctor endangers the Jewish patient

An op-ed by Prof. Riyad Agbaria and Prof. Shimon Glick argues that incitement against Arab medical staff, such as the claim made on Channel 14 about poisoning patients, primarily endangers the Jewish patient. The authors present data on the proportion of Arabs in the healthcare system and warn of delayed treatment and ongoing fear.

An op-ed by Prof. Riyad Agbaria and Prof. Shimon Glick argues that incitement against Arab medical staff primarily endangers the Jewish patient. The article opens by recalling a claim made on Channel 14 that Arab doctors and nurses poison Jewish patients, noting that the claim has no factual basis. The authors present data: about a quarter of doctors in Israel, about half of pharmacists, and more than a quarter of nurses are Arab. They argue that a Jewish patient convinced by this claim faces two dangerous options: avoiding treatment or receiving it in fear. The first cost is delayed treatment, which can be critical in stroke, myocardial infarction, blood infection, or tumor. The second cost is fear during treatment, which can lead to stopping medication, hiding symptoms, or leaving the hospital against medical advice. The authors note that chronic stress raises blood pressure and increases cardiac events. They cite historical examples: the 'Doctors' Plot' in the Soviet Union in 1953, where Jewish doctors were accused of poisoning leaders, and the Tuskegee syphilis experiment in the US, which undermined the trust of Black men in the healthcare system. The article highlights an asymmetry: an Arab patient treated by a Jewish doctor does not bear a similar burden, as no one spreads a similar libel against Jewish doctors. The authors call for treating incitement as a public health danger and urge the Ministry of Health, the Israel Medical Association, and hospitals to act against this false information.