Naftali Bennett, head of the new Bennett 2026 political party, unveiled a National Accessibility and Inclusion Plan on Thursday evening, presenting a five-point framework designed to improve economic participation and social integration for Israel’s estimated 1.5 million citizens with disabilities.
The plan was introduced at an event held at the offices of Kaltura in Bnei Brak attended by about 100 participants, including people with disabilities, Paralympic athletes, advocates and community leaders. Kaltura is an Israeli-founded technology company that provides video platforms for online learning, virtual events and enterprise communications.
“Israel has 1.5 million people with disabilities,” said Bennett, who served as prime minister from June 2021 to June 2022. “The state has been failing to integrate them into society. That ends now.”
The plan proposes reforms to increase workforce participation among Israelis with disabilities from 53% to 60% within a decade, including adjustments to benefits structures and tax incentives for employers aimed at removing disincentives to employment.
Bennett also outlined a vision of positioning Israel as a global leader in assistive technology by leveraging national strengths in fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced engineering to develop mobility devices, hearing technologies and prosthetics.
Additional components include expanded accessibility in public transportation and heritage sites, incentives for private-sector accessibility investments and a streamlined pathway for individuals with disabilities to serve in the Israel Defense Forces based on skills rather than medical classifications.
According to Bennett, the initiative seeks to shift Israel’s approach to disability policy from a welfare-based model to one emphasizing dignity, participation and national contribution.
The plan was designed by American-Israeli technology entrepreneur Zach Cutler, who has a disability and has firsthand insight into accessibility challenges in Israel. Cutler said the framework draws on elements of the Americans with Disabilities Act and consultations with disability advocates, wounded veterans and Paralympic competitors.
“The ADA is considered the most important law passed in America in 50 years,” Cutler told JNS on Friday. “Last night, we launched Israel’s ADA. This isn’t charity: it’s dignity, economic growth and the soul of our people. When every person can board a bus or taxi with dignity, when disability is so normalized it’s nothing special anymore, when we understand that the barrier isn’t in the person but in the environment, then Israel becomes the nation we were always meant to be.”
