Thousands of Doctors Attend Protest at Knesset

On Wednesday April 27^th approximately 2,500 physicians, medical students and advocates assembled in Jerusalem at the Wohl Rose Garden opposite the Knesset to protest the government's failure to effectively address Israel's collapsing public health system.

After reaching a stalemate in discussions with the Treasury, physicians staged what turned out to be the largest protest so far in the battle for higher wages and health care reform.

Present at the demonstration were the dean of one medical school, numerous chairmen of major hospital departments and many young doctors worried about the future of their profession. No senior Health Ministry officials were present.

Many of those who attended the demonstration wore white medical jackets printed with the Israeli Medical Association emblem on the front and "Save Our Public Health System" on the back.

Dr. Leonid Eidelman, chairman of the Israeli Medical Association, said that the rally was organized to "protest the lack of progress [in talks with the state] and is another attempt to move the wheels of negotiations forward and to find solutions to save the imploding public health system."

As of now, the IMA is negotiating on behalf of 17,000 doctors employed in governmental hospitals, the Clalait, Leumit and now Meuhedet HMOs, as well as the Jerusalem NGO-owned hospitals such as Bikur Holim, Shaare Zedek Medical Center, and Hadassah University Hospital.

Medical students from all four medical schools in the country have also taken up the cause, with around a thousand students who were driven from their various universities to the capital in order to protest. The students have declared a strike and classes were canceled for the day.

“The public health system is collapsing,” warned Dr Eidelman during the protest. “It is the time for us to be heard. The population is expanding and aging. We have the know-how, but the lack of resources has weakened our ability to treat our patients. It is harder and harder to persuade a young resident to study unattractive medical specialties.”

Opposition head MK Tzipi Livni said she had come to support a “struggle of which there is none more worthy... Over 7.5 million Israelis have the right to decent healthcare, and not two medical systems, one for the rich and one for the poor.”MK Livni accused the government of “failing in this task” and called on the demonstrators to “roll up your sleeves.” 

According to Kadima MK Rachel Adatto, a gynecologist and lawyer by training, “In a well-run state, this demonstration would be unnecessary. There are not enough doctors, and the healthcare system is run by Treasury bureaucrats who do not understand it.”  She openly called onPrime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to sit with IMA and Treasury officials and not leave until a solution is found to this crisis.
To this date, all meetings between the IMA and the Finance Ministry have ended without an agreement.