Eyal Berkovich Warns of Medical Staff Shortage and Arab-Only Teams Treating Wounded Soldiers at Rambam Hospital

Eyal Berkovich and Arel Segal clashed over the departure of doctors from Israel and the shortage of Jewish medical professionals. Berkovich expressed concern about a brain drain, citing an 80% increase in departures among top-tier doctors. Segal challenged Berkovich's claim that 10 out of 30 doctors leaving constituted a majority, calling it inaccurate.

Berkovich raised a serious issue regarding the treatment of wounded soldiers at Rambam Hospital, claiming that injured soldiers were left with exclusively Arab medical staff. He recounted a case involving his brother, who was severely wounded in Lebanon and hospitalized with burns and other injuries. Berkovich described how a new night shift of Arabic-speaking staff locked the ward doors and removed families, leaving four critically injured soldiers alone overnight.

Berkovich appealed to the Ministry of Health and the Prime Minister to address the situation, emphasizing the lack of Jewish doctors in the hospital. Segal responded by contextualizing the brain drain concern, noting that similar worries have existed since the 1970s, and questioned where people could realistically emigrate given current conditions.

The debate highlights ongoing tensions about medical staffing in Israel, the emigration of skilled professionals, and the ethnic composition of hospital teams treating Israeli soldiers.