Nazi Persecution Disabled Persons Law, 5717-1957

"disabled person" means a person who has suffered a disability as a result of illness, aggravation of illness or injury, and who, but for what is stated in the agreement between the State of Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany of the 20th of Elul 5712 (10 September 1952) and in letter No. 1a thereto, would have been entitled, by reason of his disability, to a benefit, pension or other compensation from the Federal Republic of Germany;

"disability" means the loss of the capacity to perform a normal activity, whether physical or mental, or the diminution of such capacity;

"handling of a claim" means the giving of legal advice in a claim for benefits under this Law, representation in a claim before any body or authority, and also the preparation of an application under section 6 or any other document required for the submission or authentication of the application;

"person entitled to an income-related increased benefit" means a person who is unable to earn a livelihood by reason of his illness, age or physical or mental impairment and is not maintained in an institution under the circumstances and conditions referred to in section 5;

"pension" – (Repealed);

"grant" – (Repealed);

"the determining wage" means the sum of NIS 7,261.27;

"additional income" means the income of a disabled person from any source other than benefits under this Law;

"War Disabled Law" means the Nazi Victims Law, 5714-1954;

"decision regarding an annual grant" means a decision published in Reshumot (Official Gazette) regarding entitlement to an annual grant, given by the Minister of Finance on the proposal of the competent authority, in respect of a person who was alive during the period of the Second World War and is not entitled to benefits under this Law or under the Holocaust Survivors Benefits Law;

"Holocaust Survivors Benefits Law" means the Holocaust Survivors Benefits Law, 5767-2007.

The Minister of Finance shall appoint a competent authority for the purposes of this Law (hereinafter – the competent authority). Notice of its appointment and address shall be published in Reshumot (Official Gazette).

A disabled person shall be entitled to benefits under this Law if all of the following conditions are fulfilled in respect of him:

A person who has submitted to the Federal Republic of Germany a claim for a benefit, pension or other compensation by reason of his disability on the ground that at some time he belonged to the German language and cultural sphere shall not, by that reason alone, cease to be a disabled person under this Law; a benefit, pension or other compensation claimed or approved in such a claim shall hereinafter be called "compensation".

The competent authority may direct that a person who has submitted a claim for compensation shall assign to it his rights to the compensation as security for the repayment of benefits as referred to in section 3e.

A person whose compensation has been approved (hereinafter – a disabled person who has received compensation) shall not be entitled to benefits; however, if only a one-time compensation was approved for him, or compensation up to a specified date only, he shall be entitled to benefits in respect of the period commencing with the granting of the approval or with that date; for the purposes of this section and sections 3e and 3f, "benefits" means any periodic payment paid under this Law.

A disabled person who has received compensation that includes periodic payments relating to the period after the granting of the approval, which are less than the amount of benefits to which he would have been entitled under this Law in respect of that period, shall be entitled to receive the difference between the said payments and the benefits, notwithstanding the provisions of section 3d.

The Minister of Finance, with the approval of the Finance Committee of the Knesset, may prescribe by Regulations the categories of expenses that are to be regarded as expenses in claiming compensation and their maximum rates.

For the purposes of section 3e, the calculation of amounts in foreign currency shall be made at their rate in liras on the date of approval of the compensation, and of the expenses of claiming the compensation – at the rate on the date on which they were paid.

A person who in a given month is entitled to an old-age pension under the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995, shall have deducted from the income-related increased benefit paid to him for that month under section 4a an amount equal to the old-age pension, provided that the income-related increased benefit shall not be less than the basic benefit.

A person claiming an income-related increased benefit under section 4a shall submit an application to the competent authority accompanied by such evidence as is required to prove his claim as prescribed in Regulations, and no income-related increased benefit shall be paid in respect of a period exceeding 120 days prior to the submission of the said application for the benefit.

"index" means the Consumer Price Index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics;

"the base index" means the index most recently published before 1 December 2014;

"the new index" means the index most recently published before the update date.

A disabled person who holds a special degree of disability, determined in accordance with rules prescribed in Regulations, shall be paid, for as long as he holds the said degree of disability, a supplement of 30% to his benefit.

"the index" means the first half-year median index as calculated on the basis of data known on 15 November of that year or the second half-year median index as calculated on the basis of data known on 15 May of the following year;

"the base index" means the index calculated before the date on which amounts were last updated under this section;

"the new index" means, for the purpose of the January update, the first half-year median index of the preceding year, and for the purpose of the July update, the second half-year median index of the preceding year;

"first half-year median index" means the semi-annual average of the wage index for the months of January to June;

"second half-year median index" means the semi-annual average of the wage index for the months of July to December;

"wage index" means the average monthly wage index per salaried post in all public services, published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

A disabled person who has ceased to receive an income support allowance as a result of the increase of the benefit paid under section 4 shall continue to be entitled to an ancillary benefit that was granted to him prior to the increase of the benefit, unless the entitlement to the ancillary benefit has ceased pursuant to the provisions under which it was granted; a person who is entitled to an ancillary benefit and who, in the same matter within the scope of the ancillary benefit, is entitled to a benefit by virtue of another law or arrangement, shall be entitled to the benefit at the higher of the two rates; for this purpose –

"public body" means the Government, and also a budgeted body or a supported body as defined in section 32 of the State Budget Foundations Law, 5745-1985;

"income support allowance" means an allowance under the Income Support Law, 5741-1980, or an income supplement allowance under section 9 of the agreement regarding the granting of special old-age and survivors' pensions as defined in the National Insurance Law [Consolidated Version], 5755-1995;

"ancillary benefit" means a benefit or grant, other than a monthly allowance payment, given to a recipient of an income support allowance by virtue of any law or arrangement or by a public body pursuant to an agreement or custom.

A disabled person entitled to a benefit who has no dependent family member, and who is maintained at the expense of the State or a local authority in an institution for disabled persons or for the elderly or in another similar institution, shall have the benefit to which he is entitled under this Law reduced by 75% from the fourth month of his maintenance in the institution and for as long as he is maintained therein.

A person claiming a benefit under section 14(a) shall appear once every six months to prove that he is alive at an Israeli representation, and if he is unable to do so for medical reasons, he shall prove that he is alive in another manner, all as the Minister of Finance has prescribed; if the claimant has not proved that he is alive as provided in this section, the competent authority may defer payment of the benefit until proof of life is provided.

If an application is approved under section 7, the competent authority shall, within thirty days, transmit all the documents to a medical committee appointed under section 6(a) of the Nazi Victims Law, 5714-1954, for the purpose of determining the degree of disability according to criteria and in accordance with principles to be prescribed by the Minister in Regulations, and the provisions of section 6a of that Law shall apply.

The disabled person or the competent authority may, subject to the conditions to be prescribed by Regulations, appeal against a decision of a medical committee before a superior medical committee appointed under section 12a of the Nazi Victims Law, 5714-1954, within sixty days from the date on which the decision was communicated to them, and the provisions of section 12a(d) of that Law shall apply.

A disabled person as well as the competent authority may appeal against a decision of a superior medical committee before the District Court on a point of law only, within sixty days from the date on which the decision was communicated to them, and the provisions of section 12b(b) and (c) of the Nazi Victims Law shall apply with the necessary modifications.

If a benefit has been paid to a disabled person in excess of the amount due to him, the competent authority may withhold from his benefits, at a rate not exceeding one half of the benefit paid to him, up to the amount paid in excess.

A disabled person who has not collected a benefit within two years from the date on which the benefit was offered for payment shall forfeit his right to receive it, unless the competent authority has directed otherwise.

The Minister of Justice may prescribe by Regulations the procedure for appeals and further appeals under section 17.

The competent authority may reconsider any matter and give a decision different from the previous one, if the previous decision was obtained by an act or omission constituting a criminal offence, or if it has been discovered on the basis of new evidence that it was founded on an error.

A disabled person entitled to benefits shall receive, at the expense of the State, subject to the conditions and in accordance with the rules to be prescribed by Regulations, treatment for the disability by reason of which he was recognised as a disabled person entitled to benefits, at any time that a need therefor arises.

In this section, "treatment" means medical treatment including surgical treatment, medical examinations, hospitalisation, home treatment, convalescence, supply of medicines, medical devices, prostheses, orthopaedic devices, mobility devices for amputees and paralysed persons and guide dogs for the blind, and participation in the costs of maintenance of all of these.

Where a person has not complied with a direction of the competent authority under section 3c, the competent authority may withhold payment of the benefits to which he is entitled under this Law.

"index" means the consumer price index published by the Central Bureau of Statistics;

"the base index" means the index published in December 2015;

"the new index" means the index published in December preceding the update date.

Notwithstanding anything provided in any agreement, no person shall be required to pay a fee for the handling of a claim, including comprehensive expenses or various expenses in connection therewith, in an amount exceeding the maximum prescribed under section 22a.

Notwithstanding anything provided in any agreement, no person shall be required to pay for the handling of a single claim an amount exceeding the maximum fee under section 22a, even if more than one person handled his claim, whether jointly with another or separately; for this purpose –

Notwithstanding anything provided in any agreement, in a case where the connection between the handling of a claim, including an application under an administrative decision or under a decision regarding an annual grant and the filing of an appeal to an appeals committee or a court appeal, and the decision of the competent authority regarding entitlement to benefits or to an annual grant, has been severed, the handler of the claim shall not be entitled to a fee.

No person shall be entitled to a fee for the handling of a claim, including an application under an administrative decision or under a decision regarding an annual grant and the filing of an appeal to an appeals committee or a court appeal, unless all of the following conditions are met:

Where a person has paid for the handling of a claim a fee or expenses in an amount exceeding what was prescribed under section 22a, he may claim the return of the excess.

In the examination of a claim for the return of any amount paid for the handling of a claim, the court may, notwithstanding anything provided in any law, receive oral testimony as evidence in connection with the payment and may also be satisfied with the testimony of a single witness.

The provisions of this Law and Orders issued by virtue thereof, in respect of fees for the handling of a claim, shall apply also to a person who is not an advocate; nothing in this section shall permit a person who is not an advocate to perform acts reserved for an advocate under the Bar Association Law, 5721-1961.

The right to benefits under this Law does not pass by inheritance.

The Minister of Finance is charged with the implementation of this Law and may make Regulations on any matter relating to its implementation, including Regulations on the following matters:

The Minister of Finance may prescribe by Regulations –