For years, Israel’s wheelchair bound community has endured hardships and embarrassment when trying to attend a movie, visit a shopping center and pay a visit to city hall. It appears this is about to change, at least on paper.

Representatives of the disabled community explain that “we all have been there, arriving at a pool, movie, shopping center or whatever and then you see, there is no access. Even if there is an elevator, you quickly realize the buttons are too high.”

After four years of deliberations, the Knesset Labor & Social Affairs Committee has decided on a law that will compel public buildings to be accessible to the wheelchair bound, including entrances, parking lots, elevators and restrooms, accommodating those in wheelchairs and the blind. The bill is expected to be voted upon in Knesset following elections, and it is hoped that it will be voted into law.

If passed into law, it will apply to new buildings that are constructed, and it will make granting permits to structures contingent on compliance with the accessibility law.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)