Viral video of nurses threatening Israelis struck out by judge

A viral video of a chat between an Israeli content creator and two Sydney nurses who allegedly threatened Israeli people has been struck out of evidence for their upcoming trials.

Ahmed Rashad Nadir, 28, and Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 27, were charged following the February 2025 interaction with Max Veifer (also known as Max Ilinsky) on online video chat service Chatruletka while the nurses worked at Bankstown Hospital in Sydney’s west.

Nadir and Lebdeh are charged with making statements that reasonable people would regard as menacing or offensive. Lebdeh is also charged with threatening to use force or violence against Israeli people, causing them fear.

Both defendants have pleaded not guilty and will fight the charges at a trial at the end of August.

In a major update to the case, a District Court judge on Tuesday ruled the video recording of the chat inadmissable because it was recorded improperly or illegally.

In NSW, it is illegal to record a “private conversation” or activity without the consent of the parties involved.

In a written judgment of the decision partially released to the media, Judge Michael McHugh said improperly or illegally obtained evidence cannot be admitted “unless the desirability of its admission outweighs the undesirability of admitting evidence that has been obtained in such a way or ways”.

The judge said the onus of proof of whether the evidence was obtained improperly or illegally rested on the defence team.

“Part of that consideration involves jurisdictional and other issues such as whether participants on the chat service are in a private conversation for the purposes of an Australian law,” he said. It had been widely reported that Veifer was located in Israel at the time.

If there was proof of improper obtainment, the onus of proof of whether it should still be admitted shifted to the Crown, the judge added.

“Ultimately, I have come to the firm view that all the video evidence must be excluded from each of the trials of the applicants,” he wrote.

McHugh noted the background to the charges had received significant media exposure “due to the publication of the chat service interactions and commentary thereon by Mr Ilinsky to some 100,000+ followers on various social media platforms”.

He said the nurses’ “alleged utterances … are, on their face and at the very least, likely highly disturbing to right-minded people everywhere”.

However, he added “nothing in this judgment is intended to express any views on what Mr Ilinksy referred to as ‘the war’ or ‘antisemitism’ generally”.

‘The prosecution case will collapse as a result of the exclusion.’

“Suffice to note that there are a range of legitimate (and illegitimate) views on these subjects and that they can be vigorously asserted and defended by people of good (and bad) faith,” he wrote.

Whether the criminal offences could be proven must be a case for a jury to decide, he said.

The judge restricted the media from reporting further reasons for the judgment.

Outside court, Nadir’s lawyer Zemarai Khatiz described the ruling as a “major victory for my client”.

“The district court judge has handed down its judgment [and] excluded the evidence,” Khatiz told media.

“The prosecution case will collapse as a result of the exclusion.”

Khatiz said the prosecution “will also need to decide if they want to proceed with this charge or drop the case completely”.

The pair remain on bail ahead of their trial, which is expected to last five days.

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