The coalition chairman, MK David Bitan (Likud), announced Thursday at a press conference that an agreement has been reached in which the disability pension will increase to NIS 4,000 a month from NIS 2,342.

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At the press conference, members of the coalition and the opposition, who announced that there was broad agreement on equating the pension to the minimum wage, added that it was the beginning of a move in the direction towards that goal.

Disabled citizens blocking a road in protest (Photo: Dana Kopel)

The agreements were reached following protests and heavy pressures put on the government by disabled citizens in recent months.

The plan, if approved, is expected to cost NIS 4 billion.

The opposition also welcomed the agreements.

MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz), one of the leaders of the campaign to raise the disability pension, said that "this is a historic moment that has come to do justice to a quarter of a million people with disabilities in Israel, who until now have been given a poverty pension and can now breathe a little more easily."

MK Ilan Gilon (Photo: Yogev Atias)

About six months ago, Gilon made a similar proposal in a preliminary reading in the Knesset against resistance from the coalition. According to MK Gilon, "We have been through difficult days, days of a struggle, of hopes, disappointments and confrontations. Today there is an unprecedented achievement in our struggle."

The press conference was also attended by MK Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid) who added: "Politics is usually a cynical place, but despite that, we have succeeded in achieving something we can build upon in the future.

"People here want to live with dignity. The outline that was agreed upon is a good outline, though a beginning, it is a good thing."

(Translated & edited by Lior Mor)