Major update for Bankstown nurses Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir after viral video

A Bankstown nurse who went viral after she allegedly threatened Israeli patients is set to fight the allegations in a district court trial.

A Sydney nurse is set to fight allegations she threatened Israeli patients in a viral video.

Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 27, and Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 28, made international headlines in February after a video of the pair spread online in which they allegedly threatened violence against Israeli patients at Bankstown Hospital, in Sydney’s west.

Ms Abu Lebdeh was charged with threatening violence to a group and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

Rashad Nadir and Sarah Abu Lebdeh. Picture: NewsWire Handout

She was earlier charged with one count of using a carriage service to threaten to kill, however in September, the court was told prosecutors had withdrawn the charge.

She attended the John Maddison Tower local court on Tuesday where she pleaded not guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and threaten violence to a group.

She will return to the District Court on February 2, 2026, for arraignment, before the matter will proceed to trial.

Meanwhile, her co-accused Mr Nadir was charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and possessing a prohibited drug.

He entered a plea of not guilty to the drug charge in September.

He has not entered a plea for the other charge, however, his lawyer Zemarai Khatiz noted if the matter wasn’t resolved on the next occasion it will also be committed for trial to the District Court.

The pair remain on bail.

Ms Abu Lebdeh left court shortly after the matter was heard, holding hands with her lawyer Rayan Kadadi.

They pushed past the awaiting media scrum, and had no comment.

In the two-and-a-half minute video, recorded by Israeli influencer Max Veifer, the nurses allegedly threatened violence against Israelis who came to the hospital.

The video attracted widely circulated criticism at the time, and made international headlines.

Mr Khatiz previously flagged that he intended to argue that the video was recorded without his client’s consent.

The pair, who have both been stood down from their jobs by NSW Health, have also been hit with a two-year ban from working with NDIS participants.

Originally published as Major update for Bankstown nurses Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir after viral video