Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene
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Appendix A: Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law
As said by the Commission of Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities within the Ministry
of Justice: The Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law of 1998 was confirmed by the
Israeli Knesset in 1998.
This law determined a basic principle, according to which the rights of disabled people and
the commitment of the society to these rights, are based on the equality principle, the value
of person as created in the image of god and the principle of human dignity. This law is a
landmark in the transition of recent years from the welfare approach, which was used as
a basis when dealing with the disabled people worldwide, to the human rights approach.
That is, a transition from an approach that sees the disabled person as a person in need
and dependant of assistance from fellowmen, to an approach that emphasizes the rights
of this person to integrate equally and actively in various life fields like any other citizen.
This implementation of the rights approach required a substantial change of perception.
Replacing the approach to the disabled person according to the medical model that focuses
on the deficiency and the evaluation of the inability of that person, with an approach that
suits the social model, according to which a disability is the result of interaction between
a person and his physical and social environment. According to the social model, disabled
people are not perceived as dependant and needy, but rather as a minority group that
suffers obstacles and discrimination, and it is up to the society to remove these obstacles
and develop mechanisms to promote the right to equality.
The initial expression of the human rights approach, which is the foundation of this new
legislation appears in its language: unlike before, the legislation uses wordings of “people
first” (for example: a person with mental disability) instead of labeling wordings (for example:
“handicap”, “retard”). The disability is regarded only when needed in order to make the
social and physical environments fit the needs of the person.
The first chapters of the Equal Rights for Persons with Disabilities Law, which include the
principles section, the right of equality in employment, the right for public transport accessibility
and the chapter that refers to the establishment of equality commission, were submitted
to the Knesset by “Bezchut” organization and were accepted on February 23rd, 1998.
The purpose of the Equality Law, as defined in its sections 2 and 4, is to protect the dignity
and freedom of the disabled person, enforce his right to equal active participation in the
society in all aspects of life, and provide appropriate response to his special needs in ways
