Israeli Government to Reassess Hundreds of Thousands of Disabled Parking Permits with Stricter Eligibility Criteria

An inter-ministerial team established by the Israeli government is set to publish its conclusions on Tuesday regarding the eligibility criteria for disabled parking permits. The team, which includes representatives from the Ministry of Finance, National Insurance Institute, and Ministry of Transport, recommends a comprehensive reassessment of all existing permits and the implementation of new eligibility rules based on National Insurance qualifications rather than the current Ministry of Transport medical evaluations.

The report highlights a significant increase in disabled permits and associated vehicles, with 446,000 eligible disabled individuals and 655,000 vehicles linked to them by the end of last year. This represents a 322% rise over the past decade, while the general disability rate increased by only 46%. The proportion of vehicles with disabled permits rose from 6% in 2014 to 17% last year, compared to 5%-7% in countries like Australia, the UK, and New York.

The team criticized the current system where external doctors employed by the Ministry of Transport assess applications based solely on documents without physical functional examinations, leading to inconsistent and unclear eligibility standards. Furthermore, the team discovered that approximately 128,000 permit holders were not registered with the National Insurance Institute, raising concerns that many may not meet the legal disability threshold of 60% or higher.

Going forward, the team proposes that the Licensing Authority rely exclusively on medical assessments and conclusions approved by the National Insurance Institute, limiting eligibility to specific groups such as the blind, those with mobility disabilities of 60% or more, certain child disability pension recipients, and those with high-level nursing care pensions. Separate procedures will apply for those ineligible for National Insurance benefits due to income tests.

Additionally, the team plans to review the existing permit inventory according to the new criteria, estimating that many permits expiring within the next two years may not be renewed. The Ministry of Transport requested the report's publication be delayed until after the Likud primaries, although the conclusions were ready earlier.