Israel Revises Eligibility Criteria for Disabled Parking Permits to Focus on Functional Assessment

Israel is overhauling the eligibility criteria for disabled parking permits as part of a comprehensive review of hundreds of thousands of existing permits. The new framework bases eligibility on medical and functional status rather than solely on submitted documentation. Eligible groups include the blind, recipients of mobility and special services allowances, parents of disabled children, and those receiving nursing care allowances at defined levels. Additionally, certain IDF disabled veterans and work injury victims will qualify. Foreign residents and those ineligible for allowances due to income tests will be assessed through a separate process. Those failing to meet the new standards or not recognized by the National Insurance Institute or other authorized government bodies will be excluded from eligibility.

A key change emphasizes actual functional ability, requiring more than just paperwork to obtain a permit. This reform follows an inter-ministerial team's review, which found that approximately 150,000 permits, about one-third of those approved in recent years, were improperly granted. Individuals will need to reapply under the updated criteria to retain their permits.