General - Monthly Allowances
The National Insurance Institute is the body responsible for the payment of various pensions and allowances to those who are insured and eligible for these payments under the National Insurance Law, of 1995. The NII also provides various social benefits. Among these benefits are the pensions for which people with disabilities are eligible, which are included in the general category of disability insurance.
General disability insurance allots monthly allowances to those who cannot provide for themselves, or those with reduced ability to provide for themselves owing to a disability. A homemaker, who following a disability is no longer capable of functioning in that capacity or has a reduced capacity, is also eligible for disability insurance.
In the disability insurance framework there are additional allowances:
- An allowance for a child with disabilities
- An allowance for special services for people with disabilities dependent upon the help of others
- An allowance for mobility devices for people with mobility impairment.
Besides the monthly allowances, it is possible to qualify for professional rehabilitation, including testing and professional advice as well as financing of tuition.
Receiving Information about Rights
On the National Insurance Institute website, it is possible to obtain detailed information regarding various allowances, eligibility requirements, the size of payments, etc.
The address of the NII website is: http://www.btl.gov.il.
Bizchut in the Supreme Court
In January 2001, at the request of prominent Israeli attorney Ya'akov Weinroth, Bizchut joined a petition to the Supreme Court demanding that the National Insurance Institute recognize the disability of an Israeli born citizen, allowing him to receive disability allowance (HCJ 351/01 Hamburger et al vs. National Employment Court et al.) Since the man was resident abroad on his eighteenth birthday, the National Insurance Institute claimed that he was not entitled, according to the National Insurance Law, to receive official recognition of his disabilities. The Court instructed the State to explain this decision and the National Insurance Institute subsequently announced its intention of amending the existing law.
According to the amendment, disability allowances will be given to an Israeli-born person with congenital disabilities, even if he lived abroad for a number of years before returning to Israel as a 'returning resident.' The same applies for an Israeli citizen who became disabled abroad during his/her childhood and later returned to Israel with a disability.
