Israel’s observance of International Day of Persons with Disabilities on Dec. 3 comes at a historic inflection point, as the war has created the largest new population of disabled citizens in the country’s history.
After more than two years of war since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023, displacement and trauma, the number of newly disabled Israelis has surged, including more than 20,000 wounded soldiers, placing unprecedented pressure on a system of health care, rehabilitation and community support already under strain.
Behind the national statistics are swelling needs: long-term physical rehabilitation, mobility assistance, trauma therapy, childcare for families under stress and accessible emergency information. Gaps long flagged by disability advocates—uneven accessibility standards, fragile mental-health resources and inconsistent emergency planning—are now impossible to overlook.
The human face of war-related disability was illustrated this week in Kiryat Malakhi, where freed hostage Yosef-Haim Ohana returned home after 738 days in captivity and weeks of rehabilitation. Hundreds of residents and schoolchildren lined the streets waving Israeli flags and holding signs reading, “Welcome Home.”
“It’s hard when everyone looks at you like this,” he said on his way home. “But all the love I’m receiving says everything.” Quoting the Shema Yisrael (“Hear, O Israel”) prayer, he stepped out of the car to a wave of cheers, after which residents carried him on their shoulders to City Hall.
Ohana’s return was a community celebration, but also a reminder of the long road of rehabilitation facing many Israelis who have survived captivity, injury or trauma.
Disability inclusion woven into crisis response
Across the country, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities is being marked with conferences, accessibility campaigns and public buildings lit in purple.
Organizations such as Israel Elwyn have introduced new initiatives to improve accessible transportation and expand professional training so that public services better meet disability standards. Jewish National Fund-USA and other partners are highlighting projects that blend community resilience with accessibility.
For more than four decades, Beit Issie Shapiro has been one of Israel’s most influential catalysts for disability inclusion and policy change. Founded in 1980 as a small center for 16 children in Ra’anana, it now impacts more than half a million people in Israel and worldwide each year through services, research and national initiatives.
This year marked a milestone with the opening of the Beit Raz Early Childhood Campus, Israel’s newest inclusive daycare, serving 80 infants and toddlers—half with disabilities and half without. The model integrates therapy, family support, education and on-site research and is intended for national expansion.
“This is a new model for the country that will foster emotional resilience, social connection and mutual respect among all children,” said Beit Issie’s founder, Naomi Stuchiner.
The organization’s impact extends well beyond its campus. Its advocacy helped establish 180 early-intervention centers nationwide through legislation it promoted, forming the backbone of Israel’s support network for young children with developmental and physical challenges.
Since Oct. 7, Beit Issie has also launched new nationwide initiatives, including Tech for Heroes, which provides customized assistive technology, mobility devices and smart-home adaptations for severely wounded soldiers to accelerate independence and reintegration.
It has expanded support for evacuees and trauma-affected families through emergency therapy partnerships with municipalities, as well as community-wide solutions with health providers, educators and government agencies to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind in crisis response.
Ahmir Lerner, who became CEO during the COVID-19 pandemic and has now led the organization through two years of war after 22 years in the defense establishment, says the country is facing a generational turning point.
“This year taught us that inclusion cannot wait for peacetime,” Lerner told JNS. “If Israel wants to recover—not just rebuild—we must design systems that include every person with a disability from the outset.”
Toward a more inclusive future
The events of the past year have made clear that accessibility is not a niche issue but a national resilience measure. Emergencies expose weak points quickly: unreadable signage at clinics, inaccessible updates for people with sensory disabilities, insufficient transport options for those with mobility challenges and overstretched mental-health services.
At the same time, a crisis has once again activated Israel’s inventive spirit. Adaptive technologies developed under fire, inclusive early-childhood models and coordinated community responses now being deployed could become the permanent foundations of a more inclusive society.
As Israel observes the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the question is no longer whether inclusion belongs on the national agenda. It is already there.
The urgent task now is ensuring that the systems built under pressure will continue to serve Israelis with disabilities long after the war has receded from the headlines.
