Mt. Sinai Doctor Fired for Praising Hamas Amid Pressure From Councilwoman

A Mt. Sinai doctor who referred to Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists as “noble resistance and freedom fighters” has been dismissed following an internal investigation after Brooklyn City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov pressed the hospital to take action to secure the safety of Jewish patients.

Dr. Lila Abassi, an assistant professor of medicine at the hospital, was terminated after scrutiny of her social media activity, which had been under review even before the Oct. 7 massacre but escalated in response to the attacks.

Abassi, 46, had posted statements such as “Long Live Hamas and Hezbollah,” labeled the IDF a “plague,” accused Israel of “slaughtering babies,” and both downplayed and, paradoxically, endorsed the Oct. 7 massacre.

“I found out through a constituent of mine who’s also a doctor at the hospital. He sent me a bunch of information—social media pages and more,” Vernikov told Belaaz. “Physicians Against Antisemitism [an online antisemitism awareness group] posted about it, and I asked my constituent to verify it because she uses an alias on social media.”

The doctor had been using the pseudonym “Kluver Bucy,” a reference to a rare neurological disorder affecting memory and behavior.

“They showed me a photo of her wearing a jacket with her name on it. We shared it on our social media, then contacted the hospital, urging them to investigate. We kept following up—calling and emailing. They told us they had launched an investigation. We continued pressing them, and eventually, they responded, saying they had spoken to her and that she had deleted her social media.”

Unhappy with the lenient response, Vernikov, a Republican, pushed for Abassi’s ouster.

“I told them that simply deleting her social media didn’t mean her hatred was gone,” Vernikov said. “I insisted she needed to be fired because my constituents are Jewish, and they wouldn’t feel safe being treated by a doctor who wants to kill them.”

Vernikov said that the hospital was very responsive throughout the process, which took about two months to be resolved.

When asked whether the Trump administration’s actions to tackle antisemitism influenced the hospital’s decision, Vernikov remarked, “They used to cancel everyone—if you were any other kind of racist, you got canceled. Cancel culture was rampant. But I think in this case, it’s a mix of the current climate, the crackdown, and other factors.”