EXCLUSIVE: Jewish physician wins religious exemption from union membership and fees over Israel stances
A Jewish doctor at Temple University Hospital has been granted a religious exemption from union membership and fees after challenging a requirement that conflicted with his religious beliefs over the union's stances on Israel.
Dr. Jacob Agronin, a physician at Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia, secured the accommodation after America First Legal (AFL) brought the matter to the Committee of Interns and Residents (CIR), SEIU Local 1957, demanding that the union exempt the doctor from membership and fees. The union confirmed in an Oct. 9 letter that it had granted the accommodation and that Agronin had neither signed a membership card nor paid dues.
AFL cited the union's stances on Israel, including endorsing the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement and accusing the Jewish state of apartheid and genocide. CIR's collective bargaining agreement with Temple University Hospital required employees covered by the agreement to join the union or pay agency fees, according to AFL.
The union can have whatever views it wants to have. However, when the union imposes its views in the workplace and that affects the people that work at that organization, that institution, or that hospital, this becomes a Title VII issue.
Union's Israel Positions
In May 2024, CIR adopted two resolutions regarding Israel: "Housestaff for Human Rights" and "Housestaff Against Apartheid." The union stated that the first resolution "set standards to ensure CIR will not endorse candidates who accept donations from the Israel lobby or who otherwise support genocide and apartheid" and the second resolution called for a permanent ceasefire and the end of military aid to Israel.
Additionally, according to the union, the "Housestaff Against Apartheid" resolution also "uplifted" the BDS movement. On Nov. 7, 2023, one month after Hamas launched its Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, CIR released a statement saying it was "appalled and shocked by the recent violence in Israel and Palestine."
Physician's Objections
Agronin believed financially supporting the union in any capacity would violate his religious beliefs, even if payments supporting political activities were excluded. In May 2026, as part of his written testimony to the House Education and Workforce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions, Agronin referenced the November 2023 statement.
The physician acknowledged the parts of the statement that "mourned Israeli and Palestinian casualties, called for hostage release and condemned antisemitism and Islamophobia," while objecting to other elements. He noted that Hamas was not named in the statement, said the "Palestinian casualty figures are uncritically cited" and called the antisemitism condemnation "subordinated."
The physician also objected to the statement's presentation of Israeli and Palestinian casualties "in morally equivalent terms," adding that doing so "implicitly treats the perpetrators and victims of October 7th as equivalent parties."
Broader Implications
Redshaw said physicians with similar religious objections may be able to secure full exemptions from union membership and fees. "Most people believe that in requesting religious accommodation, you're just going to get an accommodation from the fees that are taken out for these political or ideological causes," she told Fox News Digital.
"But the reality of this situation is that, depending on the state that you're in, you can request a full religious accommodation. You can object to being a member of the union as a whole." CIR and Temple University Hospital did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
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