Sydney nurse charged over antisemitic video, drugs

Police have charged a second nurse over an alleged antisemitic video containing threats to kill Israeli patients and allegedly possessing a controlled drug.

Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital nurse Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27, was charged on Tuesday night with the Commonwealth offence of using a carriage service to menace or harass and on one count of drug possession relating to morphine allegedly found in his work locker.

Ahmad Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh.

Nadir, along with his colleague Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 27, were last month shown on a video uploaded by Israeli social media influencer Max Veifer allegedly saying they would refuse to treat Israeli patients and threatening to kill them.

He was granted police bail to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court later this month.

Abu Lebdeh was charged with a range of offences last week. She was also granted police bail and is also due to front court in March.

Jurisdictional issues stemming from Veifer being based overseas and Nadir being hospitalised after a concern for welfare check last month led to the delay in the charging process.

In the video, Nadir says: “You have no idea how many [Israelis] came to this hospital, and I sent them to Jahannam [the Islamic equivalent of the underworld].”

Abu Lebdeh meanwhile allegedly threatens Israeli patients and tells Veifer: “One day, your time will come, and you will die the most horrible death.”

Israeli influencer Max Veifer.Credit: AFR

When asked what would happen if an Israeli patient came into the hospital, she says: “I won’t treat them; I will kill them.”

The charges come as Thomas Stojanovski, accused of an antisemitic vandalism spree in Woollahra last year, was granted Supreme Court bail on Wednesday.

Justice Julia Lonergan spent more than a week deliberating on whether to grant conditional bail to Stojanovski, who is accused of damaging more than a dozen vehicles and buildings, including Matt Moran’s Chiswick restaurant.

He is facing 14 counts of destroying or damaging property, along with trespassing offences and offensive behaviour charges.

“Racism is a base ugliness that can be found lurking in the shadows until opportunity is taken for it to manifest,” she said in a judgment that branded the alleged offending as “far more sinister and offensive” than ordinary vandalism.

“What occurred on that night were planned and focused hate crimes. Racially motivated attacks on property make the community unsafe. Hate slogans directed to a group of people dehumanise that target group and label them worthy of hate,” she said.

“Targeted attacks of this kind … promote fear and loathing, states of mind that destabilise, damage and render unsafe our community as a whole.”

Stojanovski will return to court next month.

NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said Strike Force Pearl detectives have now arrested a total of 15 people for a range of alleged antisemitic incidents since the task force was formed last year.

“I must commend the work Strike Force Pearl detectives are doing to investigate, charge and put these individuals before the courts,” she said.

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