Israeli medical residents poised for mass walkout

Nearly 300 residents at hospitals across Israel failed to turn up to work Monday and hundreds more were poised to resign later the same day in a dispute over pay and conditions. Another 400 resignation letters were to go into effect by midnight, meaning around 700 medical residents would no longer be working by the end of the day, in a move expected to provoke a crisis in Israel's public health system. The health ministry said 270 residents did not show up for work on Monday morning, mostly in hospitals in and around Tel Aviv and the northern port city of Haifa, although press reports later put the number slightly higher at 279. Leaders of the months-old protest urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who also holds the health portfolio, to "demonstrate leadership" and urgently find a way to improve their working conditions, at a Tel Aviv press conference. Talks between the residents and the Treasury collapsed on Sunday when medics walked out, complaining that authorities were not taking their demands seriously, media reports said. The resignations had been due to go into effect on September 4 but have been repeatedly stalled by the intervention of Israel's labour court. The state prosecutor's office was Monday seeking another court injunction. The interns want significant salary increases and changes to their working hours. Speaking on army radio, Dr Doron Norman who works at Rambam medical centre in Haifa warned that the mass walkout would bring emergency rooms grinding to a halt. "The Treasury has backed the residents up against a wall," Norman told the radio. "It seems to me that people don’t understand the depth of the problem or the depth of the crisis," he said, warning that the confrontation could mean patients would be left to die. The premier's office urged residents to postpone their walkout for two weeks to allow the authorities "to show responsibility and allow Netanyahu time to resolve the crisis in the health system."