Right-wing Knesset candidate alleges Arab takeover of Israeli healthcare, drawing backlash

Jerusalem Post/Israel NewsZaga claimed that Jewish nurses are afraid to work shifts where they will be alongside only Arab doctors, and that Arab medical students receive preferential treatment. Follow us on GoogleIsraeli doctors perform cardiac catheterizations at Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital, in Jerusalem, on January 20, 2020. (photo credit: HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90)OCTOBER 21, 2026 13:45Updated: OCTOBER 21, 2026 14:51Yitzhak Zaga, a Knesset ministerial candidate ranked eighth on the Religious Zionist Party and Zehut joint list, made a series of statements on Tuesday night claiming that Arab citizens of Israel had taken over the Israeli healthcare system and other areas of the economy, according to a Walla report.He claimed, per Walla, that Jewish nurses are afraid to work shifts where they will be alongside only Arab doctors, and that Arab medical students receive certification to practice medicine despite not meeting the academic requirements. "This is a life-threatening situation," Zaga said.He then posited that the Zehut party was the only political party running in the elections that "understands the situation properly and [has] solutions," according to the Walla report.Israeli medical org. heads condemn Zaga's remarks, tout coexistence in the medical fieldProfessor Hagai Levine, Chair of the Israeli Association of Public Health Physicians, roundly condemned these statements on Wednesday morning, saying that Zaga was "spreading false, blood-libel-style accusations against Arab doctors."FILE PHOTO: Rabbi Yitzchak Chai Zaga stands outside a polling station during the party's preliminary elections, in Jerusalem, on April 27, 2017. (credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)Zaga's statements, Levine argued, "pose a danger to...public health, as well as a threat to Israel's identity as a Jewish and democratic state.""This campaign of descrimination against Arab doctors...harms us all -- caregivers and patients alike," Levine said. "In hospitals and clinics across Israel, Arabs and Jews save lives every single day—together, as partners."Dr. Ze'ev Feldman, chairman of the Organization of State-Employed Physicians, also condemned Zaga's remarks."Within the healthcare system, we all share a single mission: to care for those who need us," Feldman said. "The polarization of an election campaign must not be allowed to damage this unique blend.""Doctors and nurses from the Arab, Jewish, Christian, and Druze communities work to help every patient, regardless of religion, race, or gender," Feldman added. "This has always been the case, and it will remain so."Follow us on Google