Knesset approves bill to toughen punishment in attacks on doctors

By JPOST.COM STAFF
The Knesset on Wednesday approved in a preliminary reading a bill that aims to set tougher punishment for attacks on doctors and other medical staff. The bill was initiated by MKs Haim Oron (Meretz) and Yoel Hasson (Kadima) and states that such crimes would be punishable by a minimum of six months incarceration and a maximum of six years. Meanwhile, a doctor was attacked by a patient at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva on Wednesday after offering him treatment for pain from which he was suffering. The man was escorted out of the ER and handed over to police. On Tuesday night, a doctor at the Abarbanel mental hospital in Bat-Yam was kicked and spit on by a man after he refused to commit him. The man was arrested.