Communication assistance in Israel (
Hebrew: סל תקשורת, Sal Tikshoret, lit. "Communication Basket"), is supplied to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community in
Israel by the
Ministry of Social Affairs and Social Services (Molsa),[1] after the demonstrations of The Association of the Deaf in Israel (Acha),[2] which were held from May 5, 2002[3] until June 12, 2002.[4]
Following the model of the Disabled people's strike which ended,[9] the chairman of Acha Aharon Eini[10][11] launched on May 5, 2002, a struggle whose headline was "A Deaf Government", for improving the conditions of the Deaf people in Israel. He did it after months of talks with the
National Insurance Institute and Molsa, which resulted nothing.[12][13][14]
Eini also published a full list of the demands of the Israeli Deaf people, which included among the rest:[15]
A communication assistance with purchasing accessories modified for Deaf people, like a flashing
doorbell, a vibrating
alarm clock, an
Infant crying detector.
Interpretation by
sign language and subtitles in news programs during reasonable viewing hours (operated in 2018 by
Closed captioning).
Increasing of Israeli
sign language interpretation hours from 16 hours to 50 hours during a year for every Deaf person.
Voiding the annual governmental radio fee in vehicles of Deaf people.
A professional mental treatment for Deaf people, including sign language mastering.
On May 13, 2002, there was a discussion in the
Knesset about the demonstration of the Deaf people at the government quarters.[16] MK
Ilan Gilon talked without his sound, but moved his lips, for demonstrating the situation of the Deaf people. MK
Ophir Pines-Paz said that the requests of the Deaf people were basic and stable, but their representatives were tricked. MK
Mohammad Barakeh said that the Deaf people had to pay an annual governmental radio fee in their cars, although they did not hear it. Like Pines, he said that their demands were basic, trivial and banal. Other MKs said similar words, and MK
Muhamad Kanan talked about 70% of unemployment among the Deaf people.
Nissim Dahan the
Minister of Health agreed with the speeches, although he represented the government, and other MKs told him it. At the end of the discussion, there was a vote of 19 supporters and without opponents, to move the issue to the
committee of the work and welfare.
On May 21, 2002, there was a meeting between Eini and the
Treasury, which lasted until the wee hours of the night. Eini requested 50 million ILS per year, and the Treasury agreed up to 9 million ILS.[17] On June 9, 2002, Eini said that the Treasury suggested 20–22 million ILS, and the requests of the Deaf people remained 40–55 million ILS. The Treasury suggested a monthly allowance of 300 ILS to every Deaf person, plus 1,500 ILS every four years for purchasing a communications equipment, but Eini did not accept these 1,500 ILS.[18]
The
Hard of hearing (Hoh) people did not assist the demonstration, and Gali Beiner, a member of Bekol,[19] an Israeli organization of Hoh people, wrote about it.[20] After the demonstration was ended, the Hoh with hearing loss of 70 db and down, demanded their rights as well, although the major part of them did not know sign language. They demanded from Acha to handle them, although they were not members of Acha.
Kind of assistance
On June 12, 2002, Eini signed an agreement which was written by the head of the Budget Division
Ori Yogev, and was signed by him and by the
Minister of FinanceSilvan Shalom as well.[21]
Its main clauses were:
Assistance would be given to a Deaf or Hoh person who lost his hearing up to the age of three years, and the hearing loss is at least 70
Decibels in the better ear.
45 hours of Israeli sign language interpretation for every Deaf or Hoh person. Hoh is eligible to replace interpretation with
transcription.
288 ILS per month as a communication allowance for a Deaf worker, and 260 ILS for a Deaf non-worker.
Buying communication assistance up to 3,000 ILS for 4 years. This assistance is paid by supplying receipts.
Elderly Deaf people were eligible for 25% of these sums. This clause was voided in March 2018 by Molsa.[22]
An addition of 300,000 ILS in 2002 from Molsa for running Israeli Deaf clubs by Acha.
The Minister of Finance would not object a legislative proposal, which exempts Deaf people from paying the annual radio fee in their vehicles.
The agreement was recorded as Social Work Regulations 5.7 in Molsa. This kind of the regulations is signed by the CEO of Molsa instead of its Minister.[23]
Violations of the agreement
In 2009 Ester Goldblat, a manager at the Department of Rehabilitation in Molsa, made an
interpretation survey by sending questionnaires to Israeli sign language interpreters,[24] and repeated it on May 18, 2012, by sending questionnaires to Deaf and Hoh people, asking them about their interpretation services. On June 13, 2012, Goldblat requested Deaf and Hoh people to answer a survey about their vibrating pagers, which they received from the
Home Front Command, in order to alert them in cases of
war alarms.[25]
Goldblat also prohibited a Deaf person to invite an interpreter for making a phone call, and forced the interpreter to tell her the
email address of the Deaf person, instead of sending a
letter to this person. When the person asked Molsa about this prohibition, Molsa replied that the specific interpreter reported excessive hours, in spite of the Deaf person signs the interpretation form and writes also the interpreting hours.[26]
On August 26, 2018, Orly Guetta from Molsa requested an Israeli Deaf person to explain the Social Work Regulations 5.7 to her. Then, on September 5, 2018, Goldblat denied a refund of 17%
VAT[42] from this Deaf person, who purchased a
Xiaomismartphone from
China by
eBay,[43] although the Deaf person in question did not live in
Eilat,[44] and paid the VAT
legally to the
Israel Tax Authority. This person wrote to
Haim Katz the Minister of Welfare, but did not get a reply for about two months.
^Aharon Eini (June 28, 2012).
"Emergency pagers for the Deaf people". YouTube. (in Israeli Sign Language). Retrieved October 27, 2018. Is Molsa bored? No job? I requested the pager after a
Scud had shaken my roof.
^Barkan, Noam (December 30, 2012). "זעקת החירשים" [The cry of the Deaf people]. Yedioth Ahronoth (in Hebrew). Tel Aviv. p. 14. Since the interpretation of Culture and Leisure is at the bottom of the list of priorities, I ask you not to provide services for such activities until it becomes clear that we have a sufficient budget to finance the whole service.
^The VAT in Israel is in a state of flux. It was reduced from 18% to 17% in March 2004, to 16.5% in September 2005, then to 15.5% in July 2006. Then it was raised back to 16.5% in July 2009, and lowered to the rate of 16% in January 2010. Then it was raised again to 17% on September 1, 2012, and once again to 18% on June 2, 2013. In October 2015 it was reduced from 18% to 17%.