Dozens of doctors accused of anti-Semitism

A total of 60 doctors have been reported to the medical watchdog for alleged anti-Semitic conduct in the wake of the Oct 7 attacks in Israel.

The General Medical Council (GMC), which regulates doctors in the UK, said it was investigating and would take appropriate action where necessary.

According to figures obtained by the BBC, from the start of 2023, the GMC received eight complaints about alleged anti-Semitism by doctors.

However, in the four months following Oct 7 and the war in Gaza, a total of 60 medical professionals were reported for alleged anti-Semitic conduct or remarks against their colleagues.

Of these 60 complaints, 22 are currently going through an internal process to determine whether or not they should proceed to a full investigation.

Dr Dave Rich, head of policy at the Community Security Trust (CST), a charity which monitors anti-Semitic incidents in the UK, said: “It is extremely alarming that so many medical professionals appear to have allegedly made anti-Semitic comments or expressed support for [a] terrorist organisation.

“We expect the GMC to urgently and thoroughly investigate every case and take action where appropriate.”

‘Truly unprecedented’

In February the CST warned in its annual report that there had been a “hate explosion” since the Oct 7 terror attacks.

It reported a 589 per cent increase in the number of incidents compared with the same period in 2022 and described the rise as a “watershed moment for anti-Semitism in the UK”.

The charity said the “truly unprecedented” total of 4,103 recorded cases was the highest it had ever recorded in a single calendar year. It said 66 per cent of those incidents occurred after Oct 7.

Around 1,200 people were killed when Hamas militants stormed into Israel last year and took more than 250 others back to Gaza as hostages.

In response, Israel launched an airstrike campaign in Gaza, followed by a ground invasion. More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry.

According to the most recently available figures from the GMC, 1,903 doctors identified as Jewish in 2023. This equates to roughly one per cent of registered doctors.

In November 2021, the Government announced that Hamas had become a proscribed terrorist organisation in the UK - meaning that its members or those who invite support for the group could be jailed for up to 14 years.

Islamophobia complaints also up

The figures obtained by the BBC, via a Freedom of Information request, also revealed a rise in complaints about Islamophobia by doctors, with 16 alleged cases reported between October and January - compared with just three in the preceding nine months.

A GMC spokesman said: “We recognise the significant impact the ongoing conflict has on members of the profession, patients, and all those affected.

“Since October 2023 we have received a high volume of complaints about doctors’ comments on social media related to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

“Doctors are entitled to personal beliefs, and there is nothing preventing doctors from exercising their right to speak about or campaign on issues, but this must not affect their relationship with patients or the treatment they provide or arrange.

“Our guidance is clear that discrimination is not compatible with the responsibilities and duties of a doctor.”