A second Australian nurse has been charged for threatening to kill Israeli patients, Australian police said Wednesday.
The news comes amid a surge of antisemitic attacks in Australia over the last several months in which synagogues were torched and vandalized, a Jewish day care center attacked and Jewish homes and vehicles defaced.
Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 27, was arrested on Tuesday and charged with using a communication system to threaten, menace or harass, and with possessing a prohibited drug, police said.
Last week, police charged another other nurse at the southwest Sydney hospital—26-year-old Sarah Abu Lebdeh—with threatening violence to a group.
The threats were made during a video chat with an Israeli social media influencer last month.
Both nurses were released on bail and are due back in court on March 19. They were suspended from their jobs last month.
Last month, Australia’s foremost Muslim groups defended the nurses from what it called the “hypocrisy” of their critics. A prominent opposition politician called for defunding the Muslims groups that had defended the pair.
Jewish community leaders in Australia have attributed the sharp rise in antisemitic incidents triggered by Israel’s 15-month war with Hamas in Gaza to inaction or hostility on the part of Australia’s Labor-led government.
