NEW YORK(VINnews) – In a recent interview with journalist Alan Skorski, Dr. Jacob Agronin, a cardiology fellow, detailed the antisemitism he and other Jewish physicians face within their union — the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR) — and explained why he felt compelled to testify before Congress.

Dr. Agronin appeared before the House Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions to highlight what he described as the union’s adoption of positions aligned with Hamas and Hezbollah supporters, amid broader concerns about antisemitism infiltrating healthcare — a field many expected to remain free of political and religious conflict.

CIR, which represents more than 37,000 physicians and is affiliated with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), has passed resolutions declaring Israel guilty of “apartheid” and “genocide,” endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and directing the union to oppose candidates who support legislation criminalizing BDS. The resolutions also reject equating antisemitism with anti-Zionism and claim that concerns over rising antisemitism are being exploited to stifle anti-Zionist organizing, according to Agronin’s testimony.

The union has also expressed support for figures associated with Hamas and Hezbollah, including Mahmood Khlail, a former Columbia University student targeted for deportation by the Trump administration.

In his interview with Skorski, Agronin recounted noticing troubling signs about the union approximately a year ago when his hospital voted to join CIR. He described being disturbed by the organization’s focus on anti-Israel positions that have nothing to do with patient care or medicine.ac5b68

When asked what motivated him to testify, Agronin told Skorski: “I didn’t want any of this… but someone had to stand up and say something.”

Agronin, a cardiology fellow at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, emphasized two primary concerns for Jewish doctors: being forced to pay dues to a union they did not choose that targets them and Israeli colleagues, and the politicization of medicine. He argued that CIR’s resolutions align it with activists who disrupted college campuses following the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.

In the interview, Agronin noted that he first became aware of rising antisemitism on college campuses about 10 years ago and was surprised to see it extend into healthcare. He connected with the American Jewish Medical Association and the National Right to Work Legal Defense Fund for support before his congressional testimony.

The testimony and interview come as reports of antisemitism in medical settings — including calls to exclude Israeli doctors and hostile environments for Jewish patients and providers — have increased since Oct. 7.