Two Sydney nurses who threatened Israeli patients in a viral video last year pleaded not guilty in their arraignment on Monday.
Last February, Bankstown Hospital nurses Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 27, and Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 28, went viral online after they were recorded telling Israeli English teacher and social-media influencer Max Veifer they would harm Israeli patients.
“You have no idea how many Israeli s**t dogs have come to this hospital, and I sent them to hell,” Nadir told Veifer.
Abu Lebdeh told him: “I won’t treat them, I’ll kill them.”
The New South Wales Police Force’s antisemitism task force launched an investigation, and the two nurses left their jobs at NSW Health. They have been suspended for two years.
Nadir and Abu Lebdeh pleaded not guilty at Downing Center District Court on Monday when asked to respond to charges of using a carriage service to menace, harass, or offend and threaten violence to a group.
The trial is set for August 31.
Legal defense strategy
The suspects’ lawyers are expected to argue that the video is inadmissible as evidence.
“We will have to just wait until June 1 when the applications are heard,” Nadir’s defense lawyer Zemarai Khatiz told reporters.
Asked by the press whether he was sorry for what he said, Nadir declined to comment.
There was widespread outrage in response to the video from the public and senior Australian officials, including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and New South Wales Health Minister Ryan Park.
Israeli officials demanded an immediate investigation into the matter.
Australian Jewish groups expressed concern about the safety of its community members. The rhetoric and threats were a symptom of a broader antisemitic campaign against the country’s Jews, they said.