Protocol Breach: Prime Minister Netanyahu Visits Released Hostages Despite Respiratory Illness

A visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to released hostages at Beilinson Hospital yesterday has come under fire from senior medical professionals who argue the visit contravened established health protocols. The Prime Minister, who has been diagnosed with bronchitis, proceeded with the visit despite Ministry of Health guidelines strictly forbidding individuals with any respiratory illness symptoms from entering the areas where the recently returned captives are being treated.

According to a first-hand report, high-ranking medical sources involved in the hostage reception process confirmed that the Prime Minister’s visit was conducted in contravention of Ministry of Health protocol. The rules are in place due to serious concerns that the immune systems of the hostages are severely compromised and weakened after two years of harsh and prolonged captivity in Gaza. The health system is actively working to prevent a scenario where the returnees contract various respiratory viruses.

Ministry of Health instructions are explicit: medical staff exhibiting symptoms like coughing, fever, or a runny nose are forbidden from approaching the hostage complex. The same instruction applies to visitors, who are asked not to enter the area if they are suffering from any respiratory ailments. One senior medical source noted that while active enforcement measures like temperature checks are not in place, visitors are firmly requested to comply with the guidelines.

Bronchitis, which is typically caused by viruses, places the Prime Minister directly within the category of individuals who should have avoided the facility. Medical experts stress that even if the Prime Minister suffers from chronic bronchitis, any active symptoms necessitate avoiding contact with the hostages to mitigate risk.

The Prime Minister met yesterday with several released captives, including Avinatan Or, Alon Ohel, Guy Gilboa-Dalal, Evyatar David, and Eitan Mor.

Hostage Families’ Doctor Voices Outrage

The Prime Minister’s conduct was sharply criticized by Dr. Hagai Levine, the physician for the Hostages Families Headquarters and head of the Public Health Physicians Union in Israel. Dr. Levine took to social media, questioning the lack of judgment shown by the Prime Minister, particularly after Netanyahu himself cited his persistent bronchitis for cutting short his court testimony earlier today.

"If Netanyahu has a cold that refuses to disappear, as he claimed today in court, why did he visit former captives with a weakened immune system yesterday and risk infecting them?" Dr. Levine wrote, calling attention to the potential hazard posed to the vulnerable survivors.

In response to the backlash, Hadassah Medical Center, where Netanyahu was recently examined, issued a statement clarifying his medical status from their perspective. "Prime Minister Netanyahu visited Hadassah Ein Kerem clinics last Friday and underwent comprehensive medical tests, the results of which were normal, aside from a clinical impression of remnants of a respiratory tract infection that was treated with appropriate medication," the hospital stated, adding emphatically: "There was and is no danger of infection to people in the Prime Minister′s vicinity." However, this clarification did little to placate critics who cited the Ministry of Health's explicit protocol against visiting the sensitive area while suffering any respiratory symptoms.