The Israeli Medical Association announced a general strike on Monday, January 23rd, to protest two recent violent assaults on medical personnel. The first assault involved a pediatrician from Soroka Medical Center in Beer Sheva, who was assaulted by the parents of a 15-month-old child being treated at the hospital’s pediatric clinic. The doctor suffered facial injuries and was treated in the hospital’s emergency room. The second assault happened two days later in Ramle, at a Women’s Health Center, when a patient attacked a doctor using a brass-knuckle, causing him to require medical treatment.
During the strike, hospitals and community clinics operated on a weekend schedule, offering reduced services.
Professor Zion Hagay, President of the Israeli Medical Association noted that “A strike is never the default for us, but the violence in the health system has long since become an epidemic and lines are crossed daily. On Monday, doctors will say ‘No More Violence!’.
Following previous incidents, the Israeli Medical Association has called for police presence in every emergency room and has asked for hospitals and clinics to improve their security. The Israeli Medical Association is also pressing for a change to legislation, so that an attack on medical staff would be treated with the same severity as an attack on a uniformed police officer.