The Pediatricians’ Association has petitioned the Health Ministry to promote safe circumcision by instructing hospital staff to discuss the matter with parents of newborn Jewish boys. The association expressed concern over the practice of “metzizah b’peh,” a method of drawing blood from the circumcision cut that doctors said could lead to infection.

“We estimate that only a small percent of the population of parents to babies that are circumcised realizes that the blood can be drawn using a tube, which is permitted by halacha and the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which prevents the danger of the baby contracting a dangerous infection,” the association said.