Israel: rabbi incites against Palestinian doctors in hospitals

An Israeli rabbi has sparked outrage after claiming that medical staff who are Palestinian citizens of Israel want to “kill every Jew”.

Rabbi Meir Shmueli made his outrageous claim in a video titled “Don’t employ the enemy in hospitals” which was published on YouTube by Yeshivat Darchei David. The video was later deleted.

“Arab medical teams in hospitals are killing Jewish patients,” claimed Shmueli. “Do you know how many Arab doctors, may their names be erased, are in the hospitals? They see a soldier, they cut off his hand, and they cut off his leg. They want to kill them. They kill every Jew.”

The rabbi alleged that he tells families not to leave patients alone with Palestinian doctors. “This is how they do it, these Arabs kill every day… They kill more people in hospitals than Hamas.”

The head of the Medical Association in the Negev, Dr Naim Abu Fraiha, has condemned Shmueli’s statements as “incitement” against medical teams. He added that the association has filed complaints against him. Abu Fraiha also warned of violence against Palestinian doctors in Israel, and the medical centres where they work.

One Palestinian Member of the Knesset, Ahmed Tibi, denounced the rabbi’s incitement. He pointed out that a lawyer had filed a complaint with the police department to investigate Shmueli regarding the matter.

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