The trial of two nurses accused of making anti-Semitic comments to an Israeli influencer has been delayed after a constitutional issue was raised in court.
Ahmad Rashad Nadir, 28, and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 27, have pleaded not guilty to charges of being menacing and offensive. They are accused of saying they would refuse to treat Israeli patients and threatening violence against them.
Abu Lebdeh also denies a separate charge alleging she threatened violence towards a group.
The trial was due to begin on Monday, but the listing was vacated on Thursday morning. The case has now been relisted for a mention at Parramatta on November 19.
It is not the first time proceedings against the pair have been delayed. A constitutional issue relating to the trial was noted in court.
The case centres on an online video conversation recorded in February while the nurses were working a night shift at Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in south-west Sydney.
Israeli national Max Ilinsky, known online as Max Veifer, recorded the exchange on ChatRoulette in 2025. The platform, known as Chatruletka in Israel, randomly matches users from around the world for conversations.
In the footage, Nadir is heard saying: “You have no idea how many Israeli (sic) … came to this hospital and … I send them to (hell).” He has previously apologised through his lawyer, describing the comments as a “big mistake”.
Recordings of the alleged conversation were initially excluded from evidence after lawyers for the pair argued they had been made without their consent and amounted to an illegal invasion of privacy.
That decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal, allowing the recordings and other evidence to be used in the District Court trial.
