A month ago on Mazelit’s Corner — we covered the case of Dr. Robert Guarino — a breast cancer doctor who was exposed by the watchdog group Physicians Against Antisemitism (PAA) in July for making unsolicited negative remarks against Hasidic Jews.
As we detailed on Mazelit’s Corner, Dr. Guarino — previously a doctor at Staten Island University Hospital and Northwell Health in NYC — went on a rant against Hasidic Jews, accusing them of being in loveless marriages, committing property tax-fraud, and fraudulently obtaining food stamps and Medicaid benefits.
Dr. Robert Guarino’s remarks first surfaced in the comments section of Miriam Ezagui’s Instagram page, an Orthodox Jewish influencer and nurse who has over three million followers across TikTok and Instagram.
Hasidic Jews “don’t work, criminally steal welfare, food stamps/SNAP, section 8 housing, and utilities subsidies” and “don’t adhere to basic minimum standards of hygiene,” Dr. Guarino wrote in one of the tirades that became public.
“Basically you [Hasidic Jews] criminally, fraudulently, and illegally have found a way to live in this country for FREE by stealing from the government and the taxpayers, and god is watching. Why the FBI and IRS aren’t watching I can’t figure out?” Dr. Guarino wrote.
When the PAA looked deeper into his social media record, they found two more comments Dr. Guarino made about Jews: one about the “BO” (body odor) of Hasidic Jews, and another about “fraudulent Medicaid claims” from Hasidic Jewish moms who were “inbreeding.”
These comments ignited a firestorm of concern within the Jewish community. A petition was created calling for an investigation, hundreds of social media comments tagging his employer Northwell Health on Instagram were made, and ultimately: it caused his termination.
Prior to Dr. Guarino’s screed, he was a breast cancer pathologist at Staten Island University Hospital and throughout the Northwell Health system. After the PAA published his comments on July 24th, Dr. Guarino was fired from his position of 15 years in the Northwell Health system in a swift three days.
While Guarino has not yet released a public apology to the Jewish community, he did express remorse. This is rare among doctors accused of antisemitism — and while Dr. Guarino knows he might never get his job back — he shocked us with his insistence on apologizing to the Jewish community and the Hasidic Jews who he maligned.
In an exclusive interview with Mazelit’s Corner, Dr. Robert Guarino admitted to having a “social media addiction” and addiction to “negativity” when interacting with other Facebook users.
He has since deleted all his social media accounts and concedes that his use of social media has been unhealthy. “Too much time spent on Facebook resulted in probably 20% positive posts and comments about mostly my family photos and friends and coworkers photos. I now can see the other 80% of my posts and comments were negative,” he said.
“I admit and realize that I’m too opinionated and too judgmental of the world around me and what gives me the right to do that? Nothing does.”
“Anyone who knows me would never believe me to be antisemitic as that would be so inconsistent with my lifelong and genuinely high level of good character.”
With regard to his comment centered on welfare fraud, Dr. Guarino says he is a big supporter of social welfare systems as an avowed Democrat. His “negativity” got the best of him, he says, and he lashed out on social media, which he says he deeply regrets. “My comment was supposed to only address my opinion on the issue of individual abuse and fraud regarding government assistance social programs,” he tells “I am of the opinion that it is wrong to abuse welfare programs outside of their intended purpose which is to aid those in the short-term who are suffering a time of hardship, whether they are white, black, Christian, or Jewish. Religion is irreverent to this issue. But reading it now again I can see how the comment could be offensive and cause harm to the Hasidic subgroup of the Jewish people.”
“That I assure you was never my intent and again I take full responsibility and am deeply sorry for making that comment,” said Dr. Guarino.
“That one unwise decision and colossal mistake by me to make such a comment will haunt my days forever and has ruined my career, my life, and the lives of my wife and three children all under age 13.”
Going forward, Dr. Guarino has pledged to try to be more conscious of the words he uses on social media. His negativity, he argued, isn’t evidence of antisemitism. Rather he admits that he harbors “irrational” negativity to several groups of people, Hasidic Jews aside. “I have such negativity and I let it out on others on Facebook over very irrational and trivial things that might only slightly irritate me. Things like if you voted for Trump, if you are a grade school teacher, or if you like country music are some examples. I know this is irrational and don’t know why things like this annoy me and why I feel the need to post negative comments about such things!”
“I want to be better. This ordeal has taught me great lessons. I will get this Facebook addiction under control and I will focus on the positive things in everything and everybody while not opining only on the negatives that I irrationally perceive.”
Dr. Guarino claims he is committed to providing a safe experience to patients of all backgrounds. He also hopes he will be able to rejoin the healthcare world. He claims the speed at which he was fired — three days — gave him no time to mount a defense, bring in colleagues who could have advocated on his behalf, or explain his comments clearly to HR.
“I hope you believe that I love my Jewish family members, friends, and respected colleagues.”
“I assure you again that it was never my intention to offend or to harm and I am trying to atone for this ignominy. I’ve been warned many times in the past that I am too active on social media like an addiction of sorts and that sometimes I go too far with controversial opinions on certain topics.”
Meanwhile, though Dr. Guarino says he has attempted to make amends with the PAA — the watchdog group that first exposed his tirade against Hasidic Jews — he says his emails to them have gone unanswered.
The PAA recently expressed that Dr. Guarino’s conduct calls into question his ability to treat Jews as a whole fairly.
“We have grave concerns about this physician’s ability to be objective in his medical practice. His statements about Orthodox Jews reveal a deep-seated bigotry that simply cannot be ignored,” they added.
“Dr. Robert Guarino’s contempt for Jews raises questions: does he believe that Jewish patients deserve the same excellence in medical care as everyone else? Would he cause harm to a patient who he sees as unworthy of the same rights and dignities in America that he enjoys?”
“What would happen if he examines a pathologic specimen, diagnoses a life threatening condition under his microscope, but notes that the patient has a Jewish sounding name?” they asked.
Dr. Guarino takes issue with this characterization. “I am an excellent breast pathologist without bias or bigotry and pose no discriminatory harm to my patients whatsoever which would be inconceivable to me and my sense of righteousness. Every patient deserves the highest level of expert care possible” he claims.
He also argues that he has not abandoned the Hippocratic Oath.
“I swore a cherished oath that you may be familiar with when I became a doctor that I hold sacred. I have always treated every patient’s case with the same highest level of diagnostic expertise that I have as part of my skill set regardless of their religion, race, or ethnicity that their name may or may not suggest.”
This case raises the point of whether it is truly possible to atone for antisemitic behavior in today’s post-October 7th world.
While Dr. Guarino hopes his employer will give him another chance — it remains up to the Jewish community on whether such an apology, sincere or not, can repair the trust shattered by Dr. Guarino’s initial comments about Hasidic Jews. "I am truly sorry,” Dr. Guarino told
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