We Need Accessible Shelters. Now.

by Jason Lieberman

With the war raging on and missiles being fired at Israel, it’s time to re-examine the accessibility of bomb shelters. The Iranians continue sending bombs toward Israel. A friend of mine, who made aliya right before October 7th says she has to go to the bomb shelter, stays outside, and prays because she is in a wheelchair and the shelter isn’t accessible.

Prayer is very powerful. However, prayer alone cannot protect anyone from a flying projectile aimed at them. We need to do more to make Israeli bomb shelters accessible to all. Whether that means adding ramps or adding electricity for ventilators, this needs to be done immediately. I recently heard of bomb shelters created for Bedouins in the desert; if this can be done, then we certainly have the technology to create bomb shelters that are wheelchair and other kinds of disability-accessible. There are 42% of the 2 million people in Israel who are living with a disability and 20% of Israel's population is living without proper shelters. Those numbers are only growing.

Most bomb shelters in Israel were built after the Yom Kippur War in 1973. It is time for an upgrade: an upgrade that takes people with disabilities into account. Too many people are exposed to life-threatening situations because of disabilities, and this must change. Like the ones at Beit Issie Schapiro in Ra'anana shelters should eventually be ventilated. At a quicker pace, there should be both ramps and electricity generators capable of sustaining life-saving devices installed in shelters. Additionally, bomb shelters need to be both easily accessible and easy to lock or sustain against both bombs and gunshots, when people have nowhere else to go, as with the horrific events on October 7, 2023.

These upgrades will not only help multiple hundred thousand people with new disabilities due to the war, but additionally, people injured in other military operations, and those born with or acquired disabilities without connection to defending the country. I am aware of Operation Purple Vest mission but that effort is not enough.

It might be that this major upgrade can only be done with American and other diaspora financial support. I hope that the government and friends of Israel do all they can to protect people with disabilities. Right now, this need is sorely lacking. I realize that building shelters with ramps, ventilation, and other accommodations costs extra money, but I don’t believe human life has a price. I am appealing to the Jewish community, both in Israel and throughout the diaspora, to consider supporting life-sustaining access to bomb shelters that accommodate different disabilities. The Israeli people deserve it. We must do everything in our power to make sure it happens.

In conclusion, we must remember that each person’s life is valuable. Each person deserves the best chance at survival.

Some people may think I’m asking too much. To them, I say, how many more dead, especially preventable deaths do you really want to memorialize on Yom HaZikaron? How can you look your children in the eye and tell them their brother or sister, grandmother or grandfather, or mother and father were just not important enough to save?

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Diagnosed with CP, Jason Lieberman is a lifetime disability advocate. He’s part of the Jewish Disability Inclusion News Advisory Board. Jason is a sought-after speaker in the US & abroad, mostly on Judaism & disability. He and his wife and son live in NYC.