Israeli customer attacks pharmacists because of long wait in queue

A pharmacist was attacked at a pharmacy in Dizengoff Center in Tel Aviv on Friday.

It happened after a customer allegedly broke the partition between the pharmacists and the customers due to being angry over the existing queue and went on to attack the pharmacist.

As a result of the attack, the pharmacist was slightly injured and was taken to Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.

The suspect, a 24-year-old resident of Kiryat Motzkin, was arrested by police officers of the Lev Station in Tel Aviv and taken in for questioning.

Numerous attacks on medical professionals

The chairman of the Pharmacists Association, David Papo, responded: "We will not allow the pharmacies to become a battlefield. This case joins many cases of severe violence with a real danger to the lives of pharmacies and pharmacists."

"We repeat and call on the Health Ministry to initiate significant legislation that will deter and prevent the next case of violence, and allow the members of the medical staff to do their work in a protected environment, both in the health funds and in the private pharmacies," Papo added.

Super-Pharm reacted: "We are shocked by a case of severe violence against a dedicated and respected pharmacist.Unfortunately, this case is another serious incident in the daily dealing with the increasingly escalating violence directed towards the pharmacy staff, and towards the doctors and staff in the hospitals and health funds. This is a reality that cannot be accepted."

In recent years there have been numerous reports of attacks on hospital staff, doctors and personnel at other medical institutions.