Man arrested for attacking nurse in Tel Aviv hospital

A man was arrested Saturday for attacking a nurse in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital because he felt he was not being given adequate treatment, days after a group attacked security staff at the same hospital, raising new concerns about violence toward hospital employees.

According to a police statement Sunday the suspect arrived during Yom Kippur — the Day of Atonement — for medical treatment after he was involved in a traffic accident. During the treatment he spat and pushed a male nurse in the hospital, because, he claimed, the treatment was unsatisfactory.

Yarkon District police arrived and arrested the man. On Saturday night he was brought for a remand hearing at the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s court, which extended his arrest until Monday.

Police said the investigation was continuing.

The clash came after last week a group of five men injured security guards at the same medical center when they tried to assault staff in the ER unit because a family member had complained about the service she received.

“Police will have zero tolerance for any kind of violence against anyone and in particular against public workers whose function is to serve,” police said in a Sunday statement.

On Saturday three more suspects were arrested in connection with the violent assault on guards at Ichilov hospital that occurred early last Thursday morning. Their arrests brought to six the total number of suspects held by police over the incident. Police had arrested three suspects later that day.

Three security guards suffered light-to-moderate injuries when they were attacked and beaten by relatives of a disgruntled patient, hospital officials said after last week’s incident.

Video of the attack showed the guards being surrounded and kicked and punched by the attackers. The hospital said that the medical and nursing staff were “stunned and frightened by the violence.”

Staff had just held a demonstration outside the ER on Wednesday to protest a recent spate of attacks on medical personnel in hospitals.

Last month a woman hospitalized at Haifa’s Rambam Medical Center beat a nurse unconscious and inflicted injuries that required medical treatment. The assailant was arrested.

Police noted that in three recent incidents in which patients attacked hospital staff there were swift indictments and suspects were held until the end of proceedings.

In March a Holocaust survivor burned a nurse at a Holon clinic to death. According to the court indictment, Asher Faraj became angry after the flu shot he received from the nurse made him feel weak and unwell.

Faraj told police he didn’t intend to harm anyone, but merely to cause damage to property at the clinic.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.