Another Alleged Welfare Protocol Tampering Case Exposed at Israel's National Insurance Institute
Four months after exposing a suspected forged protocol at Israel’s National Insurance Institute, the outlet says it has uncovered another case. In the earlier affair, the institute ultimately reversed itself this month and restored a permanent disability benefit to a young autistic woman. In the new case, a man identified only as Amir, a pseudonym, says the agency changed his records after doctors had already recognized his entitlement.
Amir suffers from sleep apnea, orthopedic back problems and additional medical issues. On May 14, a committee classified him for the first time as having 60% loss of earning capacity, a level that entitled him to a monthly benefit of about 4,200 shekels and retroactive payments starting in January 2025. But according to documents obtained by the outlet, the original protocol was later canceled and replaced with an identical one, dated the same day, except that the 2025 assessment was changed from 60% loss of work ability to “less than 50%.” The same doctor signed both versions.
The altered protocol also changed one key finding. In the original version, the doctor wrote that Amir could work part-time in 2025, while the revised version said he could work full-time. On June 11, Amir received another letter, this time from a claims officer, not a doctor, ruling that he had 0% loss of earning capacity in 2025.
Amir said he has been fighting the National Insurance Institute for two years to be recognized as disabled. “How can it be that the doctors determined this and the clerk changes the decision?” he asked. He said he feels his condition is irreversible and that he cannot function properly, adding that his wife sometimes dresses him and that he cannot work more than a few hours a week. His lawyer, Ruan Margi, said she would go to labor court and act “by every possible means” to stop what she described as an unlawful practice of changing protocols and denying benefits to people who genuinely need them. The National Insurance Institute had not responded.
