Two nurses at Bankstown Hospital who were stood down after a video emerged of the pair allegedly making antisemitic remarks online have been identified.
In a conversation online with Jewish influencer Max Veifer, Ahmad "Rashad" Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh appear to boast that they would kill Israeli patients if they had to treat them.
In the video, Nadir introduces himself as a doctor, and the pair could be seen wearing NSW Health uniforms.
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After learning that Veifer is from Israel, the pair allegedly began to make antisemitic remarks.
Lebdeh allegedly said that if patients from Israel came into the hospital, she would not treat them.
"I won't treat them, I'll kill them," she allegedly said.
Nadir allegedly claimed that he had killed Israeli patients.
Nadir left Afghanistan as a refugee and became an Australian citizen four years ago.
In an interview with SBS in 2015, he spoke of his good fortune.
"Back in Afghanistan, there was not much opportunity to get an education," he said.
Nadir told News Corp he was planning to make a public apology to the Jewish community about the video but would speak with police first.
"It was a joke, a misunderstanding," he said.
"I will use social media, anything, to apologise but I need to go and see the detectives first."
Nurses stood down amid police investigation
NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said two nurses had been "stood down immediately".
"Obviously, the investigative process now takes place, I do not want to leave a sliver of light to allow any of them to be able to think they will ever work for NSW Health again."
Park said he was sent the video about 7.20am today, and the pair were identified very quickly.
"Everyone is entitled to access NSW health and hospital services without fearing for their life, and without having that hate-filled attitude come through some of our health workers," he said.
"This video is disgusting. It is shocking. It is appalling."
Park also apologised to the Jewish community in Australia.
"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, we will investigate this uphill and down dale," Park said.
"We won't just be looking at this incident per se, and 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 confirmed it was investigating a video depicting alleged health workers making antisemitic threats.
"This morning, Bankstown Police Area Command launched an investigation into the video that has circulated widely on social media," police said in a statement.
"Officers attached to Strike Force Pearl have now taken carriage of the investigation.
"NSW Health believe they have identified the individuals involved and are currently assisting detectives with their investigation."
Strike Force Pearl is the police task force targeting antisemitic violence and vandalism after a spate of high-profile arson and graffiti attacks.
How did the video appear?
The original video that sparked the investigation was posted on TikTok about 3am AEDT by Veifer.
Veifer has more than 100,000 followers on the platform and often posts videos where he speaks to strangers through the online video chat program Chatruletka.
According to the Australian eSafety commissioner, the platform is also known as chat roulette and would have connected Veifer and the nurses at random.
"The platform pairs people randomly for a video chat, with only a country and gender specified by the user," the eSafety website says.
"No names, friend lists or conversation histories are stored, so finding people again is purely left to chance."
Their conversation is believed to have been filmed last night while the nurses were working at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney's south-west.
The TikTok video was sent to the NSW health minister this morning about 7.20am.
By 10am, the nurses had been stood down amid a police investigation.
Leaders respond to video
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described the video as "sickening and shameful" and said those allegedly involved would face the full force of the law.
https://x.com/AlboMP/status/1889474945258041693
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler also condemned the video.
"It's the obligation of every single health professional to treat and care for whomever comes before you," he said.
"The idea that you would single out a particular group in our community and indicate you would not care for them runs against every single principle in our healthcare system.
"At a time of unprecedented antisemitism in our country, this is a particularly sickening video."
NSW president of the Australian Medical Association Kathryn Austin said there was no place for hatred in the health system.
"On behalf of NSW doctors, we want to make it very clear that doctors, nurses and other health practitioners are committed to providing the best possible care to every patient in NSW," she said.
"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."
Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin said the video was "absolutely chilling and horrific".
"The brazen way, the open and confident way that these people spoke about killing and torturing and wishing death on Israelis, and particularly coming from our health professional, who we look to for care and support, was a ghastly thing to see and it should never have happened," Ryvchin said.
"This is a warning sign once again to all Australians about the evil that exists in our midst, and the need to understand this ideology and to confront it and the harm that it does to all Australians."
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