The Israeli influencer who recorded two Sydney nurses allegedly threatening to “kill” Israeli patients may refuse to travel to Australia to give evidence in their upcoming trial because he’s not sure “what will happen” to him when he arrives.
Max Ilinski – known online as Max Veifer – went viral after he recorded Bankstown Hospital nurses Sarah Abu Lebdeh and Ahmad Rashad Nadir allegedly making violent threats towards Israeli patients last year.
Now that criminal charges have been laid against Ms Abu Lebdeh and Mr Nadir, prosecutors want Mr Ilinski to fly to Sydney and give evidence in person at their trial. But in a police statement seen by The Australian, the Israeli appears hesitant to travel to Australia.
Mr Ilinski was interviewed by Israel’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Unit – which operates under Lahav 433, often referred to as the “Israeli FBI” – on February 19, 2025, about a week before Ms Abu Lebdeh was arrested.
A senior officer asked him: “If you have to, would you agree to come and testify in a court in Australia?”
“Right now, I don’t know,” Mr Ilinski said.
“I don’t know what will happen to me there.”
Mr Ilinski was not completely unwilling to give evidence in the nurses’ trial. He said it would be “no problem” to testify via video-link.
At a hearing in the case last week, prosecutor Justin Hannebery KC told the court the commonwealth’s “plan” for the trial included having Mr Ilinski travel to Sydney to testify.
Mr Hannebery did, however, remind Judge Michael McHugh that the commonwealth had an active application for Mr Ilinski to be allowed to give evidence via video-link. He said that while the plan was to have the Israeli appear in court in Sydney, he would not be withdrawing that application.
The matter of Mr Ilinski’s trial attendance was shelved for the time being.
Mr Nadir and Ms Abu Lebdeh – who are out on bail – have both pleaded not guilty to using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend, while Ms Abu Lebdeh pleaded not guilty to an additional charge of threatening violence to a group.
They have been stood down from their jobs by NSW Health and issued a two-year ban from working with NDIS participants.
Their next court appearance is scheduled for June 23, when Judge McHugh will decide whether the video of their alleged threats will be allowed to be included in evidence.
In the 2½-minute video, Mr Nadir allegedly said, “You (Mr Ilinksi) have no idea how many (Israeli people) come to this hospital … I send to Jahannam”, the Arabic word for “hell”.
Ms Abu Lebdeh allegedly told Mr Ilinski he was going to “die the most disgusting death” and, when asked what would happen if an Israeli patient came into the hospital, she said: “I won’t treat them, I will kill them.”
Their trial, set to begin on August 31, is expected to run five days.
