The Mersham organization of medical professionals in Israel came out against the recent allegations against Arab staff at the Rambam Health Care Campus on Monday, calling it "racist incitement."
"The Israeli health system relies daily on the joint work of doctors, nurses, and medical staff, Jews and Arabs, doctors in every person regardless of religion, nationality, or political position," Mersham stated.
"It is possible and necessary to examine what concerns medical treatment. But when they speak out, and public figures join the attack, the damage seeps into the entire system."
The Chairman of the Israel Association of Public Health Physicians, Professor Hagai Levine, also rejected the public response to the allegations.
"The plots against Rambam Hospital are sabotaging the entire health system," he stated.
"Lies born on social media about treatment at Rambam are not just 'fake news' - they are a dangerous blood libel aimed at dismantling from within the only system that still functions as an island of sanity and equality in Israel. When politicians spread nonsense about 'medical death' or treating the enemy at the expense of civilians, they do not only harm Arab teams - they harm every patient, Jewish or Arab, who enters the hospital door."
Katz calls for investigation after soldier's brother alleges mistreatment
On Saturday, the brother of one of four soldiers recently wounded in Lebanon claimed that the troops were severely mistreated by Rambam's staff during their overnight stay at the Haifa hospital.
Rambam stated that, after an investigation, it rejected all claims of wrongdoing by its staff toward the wounded soldiers.
Later, Defense Minister Israel Katz called for an IDF investigation into allegations levied on Saturday against Arab hospital employees accused of mistreating the four soldiers.
Batya Giladi contributed to this report.