As Israel prepares for future security threats, disability organizations are warning that thousands of Israelis with disabilities remain dangerously exposed during rocket attacks due to a lack of accessible shelter options and an incomplete emergency support system.

A new national emergency database is designed to help local authorities identify and assist residents with disabilities during wartime, but advocates say the initiative will have limited value unless the government establishes and funds a nationwide network of “community support workers” to provide assistance on the ground.

According to advocacy groups, many individuals with disabilities who live in homes without accessible protected spaces are unable to reach shelters independently during air raid sirens. In recent emergencies, volunteer organizations stepped in to fill the gap, helping evacuate thousands of vulnerable residents to hotels and other protected locations.

While regulations approved by the Knesset now allow municipalities to maintain emergency registries of residents requiring assistance, questions remain over who will recruit, fund, and deploy the personnel needed to contact and assist those individuals during a crisis.

Disability rights organizations have urged the government and Home Front Command to establish a formal emergency framework before the next conflict, warning that without such a system, the new database could become little more than a list with no practical means of providing help.

“We must be prepared for the next round,” disability advocates warned, stressing that many of Israel’s most vulnerable citizens still lack reliable protection during emergencies.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)