Disability in Israel

Bnei Brak opens new accessible synagogue for disabled worshipers “Tailored with innovative features such as entrance and exit ramps, accessible elevators, a lowered Ark of the Covenant, the Accessible Synagogue sets a benchmark for religious inclusivity in Israel.” (2023, Jerusalem Post)

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“The Internal Police Officer Has Not Retired but Has Slowed Down”: Israeli Women Reframe Their Ageing Experiences in the Second Half of Life (2022, Journal of Applied Gerontology)

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Making Passover accessible: A disabilities charity develops interactive digital haggadah to make seder more inclusive. (2024, Jerusalem Post)

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Overview

"Nagish" opened its app to the deaf and hard of hearing for free and unlimited use, for real-time transcription of phone calls. (2023, Vertex Ventures)

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Sign Languages

Word of mouth: Mouthing patterns in a bimodal multilingual deaf community, and how they relate to signed and spoken language. (2024, Language in Society)

The Vulnerability of Emerging Sign Languages. An article on how Kufr Qassem Sign Language is merging with Israeli Sign Language as its users show a preference towards ISL. (link to pdf, 2022, MDPI)

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Overview

'Purple War Room' emergency center to help disabled Israelis amid war. (Jun, The Jerusalem Post)

A lifeline lies in ruins: Iranian missile destroys a rehab center for disabled kids. (Jun, Times of Israel)

Israeli non-profit intensifies emergency efforts to support people with disabilities amid war. A profile of SHEKEL. (2024, Allisrael News)

“The IDF is the world's largest employer of autistic people” A claim by Captain Udi Heller, who explains: “At the end of the first year there were 300 and at the end of the second year there were 500 full-fledged soldiers, in all positions, in all units” (2023, CTech)

Special in Uniform “This program gives people with developmental disabilities the opportunity to strengthen their self-confidence, enlist in the army, and contribute to Israel in a real and meaningful way.” (2020, IDF)

Enabling Militarism The inclusion of soldiers with disabilities in the Israeli military, exploring implications for our imaginations of soldiers and geopolitics of disability. (Link to pdf, 2019, Eastwood, QMUL)

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Israel-Palestine Conflict

Released hostages to receive full disability rights:

“Following the struggle for full recognition from the government for former hostages as victims of hostilities, Israeli authorities announced that every released hostage would be automatically entitled to the rights of an IDF disabled veteran or victim of hostile actions, with a 100% disability rating, as well as lifetime medical treatment.” (Mar, The Jerusalem Post)

How Israeli nonprofits support those with disabilities during wartime. (Feb, Jerusalem Post)

Gaza’s Genocide and the Fragility of Israel’s Disability Rights Claims:

“The horrific violence against Palestinians is casting a harsh light on the deep contradictions between Israel’s supposed advocacy for disability rights and the devastating reality on the ground, where the production of impairment is wielded as a weapon of the settler colonial regime.” (Jan, Irish Centre for Human Rights)

Supporting Israel’s wounded: “Creating a compassionate society for Israel’s newly disabled after the war” (2024, Jerusalem Post)

Advocating for Inclusion and Accessibility The work of Access Israel, which has evacuated over 3,000 people with disabilities, elderly and their families. (2024, Haaretz)

Because we are all equal in emergency “Two days after the war broke out, I established the Purple Emergency Center – an emergency assistance center for people with disabilities.” (2024, Jerusalem Post)

Galilee center for kids with disabilities hit by an errant missile “Mevo’ot HaHermon Treatment and Rehabilitation Campus, closed since Oct. 8 and damaged by an errant missile, includes one of the largest hydrotherapy pools of its kind in Israel” (2024, Times of Israel)

Disability rights groups campaign against UN unequal care of Israelis In a message to the UN conference of states parties on disability from Israeli NGO Beit Issie Shapiro (video):

“Much is said about the displaced with disabilities in Gaza. What about those from Israel? Tens of thousands of children and adults with disabilities have been forced to evacuate their homes. How are you promoting, protecting, and ensuring THEIR full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms?” (2024, The Jerusalem Post)

Wounded IDF veterans find a home in Israel’s rehabilitation centers “According to Defense Ministry figures released on February 15, more than 5,500 wounded soldiers have entered the rehabilitation system since the beginning of the war. It is expected that there will be a total of 20,000 by the end of 2024.” (2024, Times of Israel)

Israel Held 82-year-old Gaza Woman With Alzheimer's for Two Months as an 'Unlawful Combatant'.

“Israeli soldiers arrested Fahamiya Khalidi in early December at a school in Gaza after she fled her home due to IDF shelling. She was moved to Damon prison, where she was refused a meeting with an attorney and was only freed after an appeal” (2024, Haaretz.com)

Thousands of Israelis amputated, disabled: “Around 2,000 Israeli civilians, soldiers and police officers have had limbs amputated or become disabled in other ways since Oct. 7.” (2024, Intermountain Jewish News)

Predictions of number of Israeli soldiers that will acquire disabilities. “As of late December, the defence ministry said the number of Israeli soldiers injured since 7 October had reached 3,000, with the Israeli army saying over 2,300 have been disabled.” (2024, Middle East Eye)

Israeli State Watchdogs Find Defense Ministry Has Neglected Disabled Veterans With PTSD “State comptroller finds that huge parts of the budget allocated to expand the rehabilitation department haven't been utilized, IDF veterans are unaware of their rights and plagued by bureaucratic hurdles, lack of digital accessibility” (2024, Haaretz)

Paralympians to help war-wounded heal from trauma “A new initiative established by the Israel Sports Association for the Disabled and the Israel Paralympic Committee aims to help the wounded adapt to their new reality, both physically and mentally.” (2023, Israel 21c)

Young Israeli artists with disabilities express emotions amid war “Over the past few weeks, Shalva’s art therapists have guided adolescents and adults to express their feelings through a variety of art forms.” (2023, The Jerusalem Post)

Yad Sarah’s Jerusalem hotel hosts disabled, elderly evacuees for free. (2023, The Jerusalem Post)

55,000 Israelis with Disabilities Evacuated from Conflict Areas Figure quoted in a discussion, which also highlighted how new accommodations are often inaccessible and this is compounded by many staff and family carers being called up for military service. (2023, Cision)

Soldiers with disabilities recruiting for the war effort. “Anyone who puts these sweets and snacks in a carton is like firing a missile at Hamas and helping our soldiers.” (2023, Jerusalem Post)

Crip Call to Action: why disabled people living in the US need to be calling for a long lasting ceasefire in Israel-Palestine. (2023, Disability Visibility Project)

Hamas hostages: Families 'worried sick' for relatives held in Gaza. "My mom is 79, she has diabetes. She uses insulin daily. My brother Nadav is also diabetic. So he takes pills for that condition, so the medication issue is really troubling and worrying." (2023, BBC)

Cognitive disabilities in the crossfire: “Creating a semblance of the routine, normalizing feelings and helping disabled people to contribute to the efforts has made all the difference.” (2023, Jerusalem Post)

He took his disabled daughter to the raves that gave her life. Hamas murdered both. (2023, i24 news)

Living through war experiences of blind women in Israel and Gaza. (Podcast, no transcript, 2023, BBC)

A disability lens on conflict: Israel and Gaza war Debrief feature on disabled victims of Hamas attacks, destruction in Gaza, and disability on different sides of the conflict. (2023, Disability Debrief)

Israeli special needs community struggles to cope with war victims of the 7th October attacks and response from disability organizations. (2023, Jerusalem Post)

Shalva National Crisis Response Center: centre for disabled people becomes a refuge for evacuees. (2023, Jerusalem Post)

Statement on the situation of persons with disabilities in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory (2023, IDA and IDDC)

Shalva Center opens bomb shelter for people with disabilities. (2022, Jerusalem Post)

Disabled Israeli Man Who Can’t Reach Bomb Shelter in Time Says He Feels Like ‘Cannon Fodder’ (2019, the Algemeiner)

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Social Protection

Israeli army veteran awaiting disability recognition commits suicide ”Or Donio takes his own life few days after similar suicide by another veteran over disability recognition” (2023)

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Overview

Making Israel’s history and heritage accessible for all (2022, Jerusalem Post)

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Air Travel

Wizz Air forced a Ukrainian veteran to leave the flight from Tel Aviv to Warsaw, because of his prosthetic leg. (2023, Ukrainian News)

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The Face of Autism in Israel.

“in recent years, services for autistic individuals have declined. This decline, particularly considering the ongoing rise in the prevalence of autism, pose significant challenges for Israeli government authorities in ensuring that autistic persons receive appropriate support.” (2024, Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment)

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Commend Israel on Efforts to Stimulate Employment of Persons with Disabilities, Ask Questions on Measures to Protect Persons with Disabilities in the Occupied Territories and to Promote Inclusive Education. (2023, OHCHR)

Life for Israelis with disabilities is a well-kept secret “For-profit institutions and government neglect have led to brutal abuse and exploitation.” Explored in the context of immigration laws that allow for recognition of disability before migration. (2023, Jewish News Syndicate)

Editorial on a government bill that allocates funding for disability inclusion: A major achievement for Israel (2022, Jerusalem Post)

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The accessibility advocator fighting for an equal Jerusalem interview with Laura Wharton ahead of the municipal elections. (2024, Jerusalem Post)

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