Bankstown Hospital nurses Ahmad ‘Rashad’ Nadir, Sarah Abu Lebdeh: Police to investigate full, unedited footage of anti-Semitic threats, full patient records

The two nurses accused of threatening to kill Israeli patients at Sydney’s Bankstown Hospital are set to meet with investigators, who will seek to examine the entire video of their sickening conversation with an Israeli influencer before considering if, or what, charges could be laid.

Police leave Bankstown Hospital on Wednesday after the two nurses were stood down. Picture: Nikki Short

NSW Police are set to talk with nurses Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh as they prepare to examine the full, unedited recording of their conversation with Israeli influencer Max Veifer, before considering if, or what, charges could be laid.

In the shocking video, Mr Nadir told Israeli influencer Max Veifer he “had no idea” the number of Israelis who had attended Bankstown Hospital who he had sent to “hell”.

Ms Abu Lebdeh said she would not treat Israeli patients but “kill them”, telling Mr Veifer he would “die the most disgusting death”.

Calling it “critical” to Strike Force Pearl’s investigation into the two nurses’ comments, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb said the anti-Semitic tirade appeared to be a “hate crime”.

Neither Mr Nadir or Ms Abu Lebdeh have been charged at the time of publication.

Speaking on Thursday afternoon, NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the process had begun to do a full analysis on patient records at Bankstown Hospital.

“There’s nothing that is standing out, but that’s an ongoing process,” he said.

“I want to restore trust and faith, particularly for the Jewish community… We’ve let them down.”

President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies David Ossip (3rd from Left) with Ryan Park (Far Right) at Bankstown Hospital the day after two nurses from the hospital were stood down over their antisemitic rants on an online chat channel.

In Canberra, Peter Dutton called for a debate about the “inadequacies of the (migration and citizenship) system” and that there needs to be a “proper process … to understand how this individual became an Australian citizen”, referring to one of the two NSW Health nurses who boasted they would kill Israeli patients.

Mr Nadir became an Australian citizen in 2020 after having fled Afghanistan as a 12-year-old boy.

The now-nurse and his family had crossed over into Iran when Mr Nadir was seven, before five years later crossed over on a boat to Australia from Indonesia, intercepted and plucked from the sea by the Australian Navy.

On Thursday, vision emerged on YouTube from 2020 of Mr Nadir leading a Sydney mosque in a common prayer about the martyrdom of Husayn ibn Ali, a “noha”, which in Shia Islam is an elegy about the Battle of Karbala.

The footage was uploaded by Mr Nadir’s brother just a few months before he became an Australian citizen in 2020.

It is a common and often-used elegy used at Shia mosques and ceremonies, and is rooted in Islamic history, as opposed to eulogising martyrdom in a contemporary sense.

The latest escalation in Australia’s anti-Semitism crisis left political and community leaders stunned: NSW Health Minister Ryan Park said the “deranged” nurses would never work in the department again while Health secretary Susan Pearce, in tears, said the comments were “appalling on every level”.

On Thursday, Mr Park, accompanied by Ms Pearce and Jewish leaders, visited Bankstown Hospital to talk to staff.

Ms Pearce said the pair were identified only a few hours after the video began to circulate and there was a “rapid examination” of patient incidents at the hospital to investigate the nurses’ claims that Israeli patients were not treated. So far, the government has found no evidence that this is the case.

Anthony Albanese called the comments “anti-Semitic and hateful bile” and NSW Premier Chris Minns said it undermined confidence in the state’s health system.

When The Australian approached the two nurses at their Western Sydney homes on Wednesday, Mr Nadir said he planned to publicly apologise to the “Jewish community and anyone I’ve offended”, but first he needed to speak with police.

Ms Abu Lebdeh’s family said the nurse was “sorry” and had suffered an “extreme panic attack”.

Her apology, via a man claiming to be her uncle, came only after other family members abused a reporter from The Australian and snatched away his phone.

In Wednesday’s now-viral video, Mr Nadir said: “You (Mr Veifer) have no idea how many (Israeli people) come to this hospital … I send to Jahannam”, the Arabic translation for “hell”.

Ms Abu Lebdeh told the influencer: “It (Israel) is Palestine’s country, not your country you piece of shit.

“One day your time will come. One day you’ll die the most …”

Mr Nadir speaks to media from his Bankstown home on Wednesday. Picture: Liam Mendes

NSW Health nurse Rashad Nadir. Picture: Supplied

She went on to say “when your time comes, I want you to remember my face so you can understand that you will die the most disgusting death”.

Asked what would happen if an Israeli patient came into the hospital, Ms Abu Lebdeh said: “I won’t treat them, I will kill them.”

Mr Nadir said that while Mr Veifer had “beautiful eyes”, he was going to “get killed” and go to “hell”. “Those pretty eyes should stay in this world for longer,” said the man, who described himself in the footage as a “doctor”, which, given he’s a nurse, may also constitute an offence.

Mr Nadir had also worked part-time at a Sydney CBD medical centre, which scrubbed the 27-year-old from its website after becoming aware of his comments.

The incident took place on chat forum Chatruletka, a web platform that allows users across the world to randomly connect via video and audio with others.

The two concurrent users can then chat with each other, before deciding to leave, or be connected with another user.

Mr Veifer is a Hebrew-speaking English teacher who regularly posts videos to social media in which he has conversations on that site, particularly when he is matched with people that share anti-Israel and anti-Jewish views.

Speaking on Sky News last night, Veifer said he was “shocked” as he spoke with the two NSW-based nurses. “As soon as they found out that I’m from Israel, they started cursing me and threatening me that they’re going to kill me, that they’re never going to treat Israeli patients at their hospitals,” he said.

“I was shocked. It’s insane that so far away in Australia, the hate has gone so far.”

The influencer said hoped his exposé would serve as a wake-up call for Australian authorities.

“I hope I opened their eyes a little bit to this tremendous anti-Semitism that is going on in their country,” he said. “I hope they’ll finally start taking actions to prevent these events from happening.”

He continued by expressing concerns about the implications of anti-Semitic attitudes in Australia and especially within the healthcare sector. “The rising anti-Semitism is just growing and growing in Australia and it’s crazy. I was shocked, but I had a mission to accomplish, you know, I had to expose them.

“Seeing doctors, seeing nurses, seeing medical staff that’s supposed to treat people, everyone that’s supposed to take care of people, seeing them saying these things just made me, yeah, made me sad.”

Although police are investigating Mr Nadir and Ms Abu Lebdeh, no charges had been laid at the time of publication.

Associates of Sarah Abu Lebdeh outside her Condell Park home on Wednesday afternoon.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh.

However, Mr Park said on Wednesday morning that the pair had likely breached “everything you can imagine”, including medical standards, departmental responsibilities and potentially the state’s hate-speech laws.

“I won’t allow a sliver of light for any of them (the pair) to be allowed to work in NSW Health again,” he said. “They’re not welcome (to work) in our hospitals. Don’t bother turning up to work tomorrow. These are vile, disgusting and deranged people, whose views do not reflect that of their colleagues, their community or NSW Health.”

Mr Park said the pair had taken an axe to a central tenet of NSW Health “that every Australian should be able to go to their local hospital and get quality, safe care”. “To the Jewish community, I am so sorry,” he said, adding investigators were combing through Bankstown Hospital to ensure the video was an isolated case and that the department’s entire staff were “deeply upset”.

“Our energy and dedication will go toward reassuring the Jewish community that our hospitals will provide them with safe and quality care.”

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park during a press conference on Wednesday. Picture: Nikki Short

Ms Pearce said the pair’s comments were “appalling on every level”, and offered her “sincerest apologies” to Sydney’s Jewish community.

Unprompted by Wednesday’s latest anti-Semitic incident, the NSW Legislative Council established a parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism, which would investigate the “increasing prevalence and severity” of escalating Jewish hatred.

It was moved by upper house Liberal Chris Rath, who said it was another “sombre day” for NSW’s Jewish community.

“This inquiry comes just in time following a string of sickening acts over past months ... (and it) is an opportunity to address past failings and correct course,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the footage was “disgusting, sickening and shameful”, and had no place in Australia or its health systems. “Overwhelmingly, people in our health system, our nurses, our doctors, our orderlies, they go into the health system because they care about their fellow Australians, their fellow humans,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Minns said he understood the Jewish community would be “appalled” at the video. “We understand (the comments) undermine the basic confidence in the health system and that these individuals can’t return to wards or public hospitals in NSW,” he said.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said the video was “utterly sickening to watch ... Their unrepentant, gleeful hatred is the precursor to the violence we are experiencing in our country and it must be stamped out.”