Photo Credit: Yonatan Sindel / Flash 90
Health Minister Yaakov Litzman.

If you are planning elective surgery or any kind of hospital-based procedure this week, you may want to reconsider your scheduling.

Israeli doctors in public hospitals are planning to strike this coming Thursday if demands for budget supplements from the Health Ministry for additional staffing are not met.

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The doctors are also concerned about the possibility that Health Minister Yaacov Litzman may issue a ban against department heads that could stop them from maintaining a private practice. However, Litzman has told media that he has decided not to move ahead with such a ban.

If the strike actually takes place — which does not always happen due to last-minute negotiations or Labor Court action — the hospitals are expected to operate on a Shabbat schedule. This means that elective surgeries and non-emergency treatments will be delayed or deferred altogether.

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Hana Levi Julian is a Middle East news analyst with a degree in Mass Communication and Journalism from Southern Connecticut State University. A past columnist with The Jewish Press and senior editor at Arutz 7, Ms. Julian has written for Babble.com, Chabad.org and other media outlets, in addition to her years working in broadcast journalism.