Talks between the representatives of residents and Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not last long, with doctors from Rambam Medical Center (Haifa), Ichilov Hospital (Tel Aviv) and Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer (Tel Aviv) announcing late Wednesday morning (7 Tishrei) they are walking out tomorrow.

The residents begrudgingly agreed to postpone the planned walkout set for Tuesday for an additional 48 hours after the prime minister became personally involved. According to the negotiators representing the doctors, the prime minister is simply looking to buy time, asking for an additional 10-14 days to permit him to formulate ‘original solutions’ to the crisis, but they explain they are not buying into it – unwilling to postpone the walkout any longer.

In the case of the residents in the three hospitals mentioned above, they are unwilling to grant any additional time, announcing if there are no major breakthroughs during the course of the day today, they are not reporting for work on Thursday.

Health Ministry officials earlier in the week warned that if the residents of the nation’s government hospitals walk off the job, it will only be a matter of days until the hospitals will be in a state of crisis that may result in the loss of lives.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)

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