Life for Israelis with disabilities is a well-kept secret

• Published date: 23 January 2023
• Publication title: Israel National News (Israel)

But less attention has been given to another change in aliyah requirements. It affects potential immigrants with disabilities

Until now, olim with disabilities must physically arrive in Israel before applying for recognition of their disabilities, a demanding and time-consuming procedure. Only after this process will they be eligible to receive government disability benefits.

Under the new procedures, they will be able to apply for such recognition before actual immigration. With their legal rights ensured beforehand, it is anticipated that their assimilation into society will be easier.

This change will almost certainly be enacted, but we do not know whether crucial information will be shared with potential olim during this new process. Will they be alerted to what awaits disabled people in Israel? Will they be warned that Israel still warehouses many of its disabled in large, closed and isolated institutions? Will they be informed that the situation with which they are likely familiar in their home countries is a far cry from Israel's situation?

In short, will they arrive here with their eyes wide open? There are some statistics they would surely like to ponder:

* 88% of Israeli citizens with cognitive impairment who live outside their own homes are institutionalized.

* 17,000 people live in 491 housing facilities for people with disabilities and special needs. This includes institutions that serve the cognitively impaired, emotionally impaired, autistic and those requiring special rehabilitation.

* Most Israelis with cognitive impairment and autism live in closed institutions remote from the community, where they are denied the right to autonomy and privacy, and where frequent and severe neglect takes place.

* Some 50% of these closed institutions are operated by approximately 70 different private for-profit companies. The same number of operators are NGOs. Only nine institutions are government-owned.

* Thousands of citizens with disabilities who live within the community do so in difficult conditions of loneliness and without basic services.

These are disheartening numbers that need not be Israel's reality.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which the State of Israel ratified in 2012, declares that the state must ensure that people with disabilities live equally in the community and freely choose their lifestyle.

In June 2022, the Knesset passed a law that anchored the right of disabled people to an independent...