A distinction should be made between a disability card and a disabled parking badge; these are two different things with different conditions.

Disability Card from the National Insurance Institute

The disability card grants the holder discounts on public transportation and entrance fees to public cultural institutions (subject to the rules of each institution) and sometimes provides the holder’s escort an exemption from waiting in line or paying in certain places.

The card is issued after mobility disability has been granted by the National Insurance Institute’s medical board. Therefore, before you submit a request to receive mobility benefits, you must first submit an application for examination by the medical board to determine your level of disability.

These boards determine whether or not there is a lower body impairment in accordance with a list of defined impairments (in Hebrew); whether the applicant needs and uses a wheelchair; and whether the impairment is temporary or permanent.

Anyone who receives one of the following benefits from the National Insurance Institute (only those relevant to stroke patients are listed here) is entitled to a disability card:

• General disability pension.
• Attendance allowance.
• Mobility allowance.
• Disabled child allowance.

What if I have had a stroke but do not receive a benefit?

In the following cases, you are eligible for a disability card even if you do not receive a benefit in practice:

• You have been examined by a medical board for the specific purpose of income tax exemption and been granted a degree of medical disability of at least 90%.
• You have been examined by a medical board for the purpose of a benefit and have been granted a degree of medical disability of at least 90%.
• You have been granted a degree of incapacity of at least 60%, and you are not eligible to a benefit due to income from work, sick leave, arrears in payment of national insurance contributions, or receiving another benefit that negates eligibility for the disability pension.

About the disability card

• The card is valid for seven years or until you are no longer entitled to a benefit, whichever comes first. At the end of this period, if you are still entitled to a benefit, the National Insurance Institute will send you an updated card.
• The card is written in Hebrew and does not include a picture. It must therefore be presented together with an ID card. Parts of the card are also written in English.
• Those entitled to the card will receive it automatically and it is not necessary to submit a special claim or form. The card is sent by mail and will arrive within a month from the confirmation or rejection of the benefit.

Financial support for purchasing a medical vehicle (for people with disabilities)

• In certain cases, you can receive financial assistance for purchasing and maintaining a special vehicle for people with disabilities; but in this circumstance you will not be eligible to receive a mobility allowance at the same time. More details can be found here on the National Insurance Institute website.
• The request for a special vehicle can be submitted online here (in Hebrew), or you can download the form and submit it at the branch near your residence.
• Additional types of mobility benefits and conditions can be found here (National Insurance Institute website).

Disabled Parking Badge

A personal disabled parking badge allows people with disabilities to park their car in designated disabled parking spaces, and under certain conditions even in spaces where parking is usually forbidden. All details about the disabled parking badge can be found here on the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety website.

It is also possible to receive a parking badge for two vehicles, even if they are not owned by the person with disabilities, as long as this person uses the vehicle as a driver or passenger.

Note that allowing the badge to be used by someone else when the person with disabilities is not in the car is a criminal offense for the holder of the badge.

The badge is a stiff card that should be placed in the windshield of the parked car. The badge is sometimes granted permanently and sometimes temporarily, depending on the permanence of the individual’s disability and their degree of mobility.

Submitting an application

The application for a badge can be submitted on the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety website. Along with the application form, you should attach:

• Photocopy of your ID card and addendum.
• Letter with your personal signature indicating the vehicle license numbers to appear on the parking permit (up to two cars).
• Photocopy of car licenses.
• Photocopy of medical protocol.

Licensing fees

When applying for a disabled parking badge, you should also submit an application for reduced licensing fees to which the holder of a disability card is eligible. These can also be submitted on the Ministry of Transport and Road Safety website here (under “Apply for reduced vehicle licensing fees and refunds”). The Ministry of Transport and Road Safety will decide whether to approve the reduced licensing fee and application for receiving a badge.

Since the badge is personal, it is possible to update the vehicle license number from time to time by submitting a form on the website.

Eligibility

To be eligible for the disabled parking badge, you must meet at least one of the following conditions, proven with a certificate from the Ministry of Health:

• You are a person with disabilities who needs a car as a means of transportation due to disability in the lower limbs.
• You have been granted a degree of disability of at least 60%, and using transportation other than a car could adversely affect your health.
• You are a person with disabilities whose ability to walk is limited and who needs a wheelchair for mobility.

If you do not have certification from the Ministry of Health for one of these conditions, you must supply current medical documentation; but avoid sending discs and X-rays.

Using a disabled parking badge while visiting foreign countries

For legal reasons, disabled parking badges for use abroad are no longer being issued. This step was necessary and coordinated with the Commission for Equal Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the Ministry of Justice. Until the issue is resolved in terms of international law, you may use a private notary to translate the parking badge in your possession and any other relevant documents into the language of the destination country. When you arrive, you must take the documents to the relevant law enforcement authorities in order to determine your rights.

Disabled Parking Space

Under the Disabled Parking Law, 5754-1993, an individual with a disabled parking badge may be entitled to have an exclusive parking area allocated for them on behalf of the local authority, at a distance of no more than 200 meters from their residence.

If there is no parking area within this range, the local authority is permitted to allocate a parking space no more than 400 meters from the residence. The local authority will bear the costs of allocating the parking space and placing the signage to indicate it.

Conditions of eligibility:

Eligibility is determined if you hold a disabled parking badge, for which a doctor licensed to grant disability from the National Insurance Institute’s medical board has approved in writing that you meet either condition 1 or 2 + condition 3.

1. Your ability to walk is limited and you require a wheelchair for mobility.
2. You are a person with disabilities who needs a car as a means of transportation due to your disability in the lower limbs.
3. You have been granted a degree of disability of at least 90%, and using transportation other than a car could adversely affect your health (someone who has been granted less than 90% disability may still be eligible, subject to the decision of the local authority).

Someone who accompanies the person with disabilities and drives for them in the car for which the parking space has been designated is permitted to park the car in the same parking space.

Eligibility is not valid for people with disabilities who already have parking that is suitable for their needs and which they use regularly and exclusively, including a private parking space for their apartment.

How to obtain the benefit and the parking space

You must submit a request in writing to the body in the local authority responsible for parking and signage (“parking department,” “local signage committee,” “municipal transportation committee,” etc.), along with the following documents:

• Letter of request
  • Photocopy of the disabled parking badge (both sides) issued for the relevant vehicle.
  • Photocopy of your ID card and addendum.
  • Photocopy of the license of the vehicle for which the parking space is to be allocated.
  • Certificate of disability percentage from the National Insurance Institute.
  • Certificate of mobility disability percentage from the Ministry of Health (if applicable).
  • Applicants who are above retirement age may be asked to supply a medical opinion from a specialist confirming their limited mobility.
  • Varying additional requirements of the local authority where the applicant lives (details can be found on the website of the relevant local authority).

The local authority must allocate the parking space within 60 days from the day the application was submitted. Moreover, it must place signage at the parking space that notes the vehicle license number, in order to designate the space for said car.

The local authority will bear the costs of allocating the parking space and placing the signage.

If you possess a disabled parking badge but have been granted less than 90% disability from the National Insurance Institute, the local authority’s committee will evaluate your request and determine whether your circumstances justify the allocation of a parking space, taking into consideration the severity of your disability and the degree to which it affects your mobility.

The owner of a unit in an apartment building can, under certain conditions, allocate for themselves a parking space in the building’s common/shared parking lot or designate a special parking space for themselves. More information can be found here: Disabled Parking in a Shared Building (in Hebrew).