Before writing a single sentence about percentages, there is something that needs to be said, and that nobody says:
across all 414 pages, in Hebrew and in Latin script.
There is no item. No table. No percentage. And this is not a technical gap — it is what makes this file harder than others, and it is worth knowing before you go into the committee rather than afterwards.
So what is it assessed under?
Where there is no dedicated item, the condition is assessed through the sections that match what it actually causes. With fibromyalgia there are two main routes, and they are assessed separately from one another.
Section 35(1) — the movement side
The section deals with “rheumatoid or degenerative arthritis, or of any other kind”, and that open wording is the way in. It measures the effect on general capacity for action and on movement.
| The condition | Percentage |
|---|---|
| (א) No effect on general capacity for action and no restriction of movement | 0% |
| (ב) There is a mild effect on general capacity for action or on movement | 10% |
| (ג) There is a moderate effect on capacity for action | 20% |
| (ד) The effect on general capacity for action is more than moderate, or there is marked restriction of movement | 30% |
| (ה) In a severe form, with rigidity of the small joints only | 50% |
| (ו) In a very severe form, rigidity of the large joints, poor general condition | 80% |
| (ז) In a grave form, the patient is confined to a wheelchair or serious complications have appeared | 100% |
The difficulty is plain to see: from the 50% rung upwards, the Regulations speak of joint rigidity — a structural finding that is not characteristic of fibromyalgia. In practice, the rungs relevant to most cases are (ב) to (ד), that is, a range of 10% to 30%.
Section 34(ב) — the psychological and somatoform side
Section 34(ב) expressly lists “somatoform disorders”, alongside anxiety disorders and adjustment disorders. This is an entirely separate scale, assessed on three components: the clinical signs, the disturbance of mental and social functioning, and the limitation of the capacity to work.
That scale runs 0, 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 100 — the full detail of Section 34(ב) is here.
💡 Why two routes and not one
Fibromyalgia touches two worlds that the Regulations keep separate: movement and physical functioning on one side, and mental and social functioning on the other. A file documented only by an orthopaedist shows half the picture, and a file documented only by a psychiatrist shows the other half. The central problem we see is partial documentation — not an absence of symptoms.
What is missing — and why it matters
In scanning the Disability Tests book we also searched for adjacent terms: “chronic pain” and “pain syndrome”. Neither appears in Part A of the Appendix either. In other words, there is no item in the Regulations that rates pain in itself.
The practical conclusion is simple, even if it is not comfortable: the committee does not rate pain. It rates what the pain prevented. Which is why the documentation needs to be written in terms of activities that stopped — not in terms of pain intensity.
Source: Sections 35 and 34 of the Schedule of Impairments, in the Appendix to the National Insurance Regulations (Determination of Degree of Disability for Work Injuries), 5716–1956, as it appears in the National Insurance Institute’s Disability Tests book. The full Disability Tests book (Hebrew). The quotations are reproduced for information only. The actual determination is made by the medical committee alone, and the Regulations are updated from time to time. The Regulations are enacted in Hebrew and the Hebrew text is the only binding version; the English here is our working translation, and section numbers and percentages are given exactly as they appear in the original.
What your file should contain
Precisely because there is no dedicated item, documentation carries more weight here than in any other area:
- A diagnosis from a rheumatologist — and preferably ongoing follow-up, not a single visit
- Documentation of ruling out other diagnoses — blood tests, imaging. This is an essential part of the diagnosis and it strengthens the file
- Family-doctor summaries over years — the continuity of referrals is the strongest evidence of chronicity
- Prescriptions for pain medication and for specific medication, over time
- Documentation of physiotherapy, a pain clinic or complementary treatment
- Parallel mental health documentation — psychiatrist or psychologist. This is what opens Route B
- Employment records: sick days, reduced hours, employer letters
- A day-to-day description in terms of activities: what you stopped doing, what takes longer, what you need help with
When no section carries the name of the illness, the file has to speak the language of the sections that do exist — movement, functioning and capacity to work.
How we help
At Yad Otefet we help you get ready for the committee: working out which sections are relevant to your condition as it is documented today, finding the gap between the symptoms and what the file actually says, and helping you prepare the documents. We do not appear before committees in your place and we do not give medical or legal advice — the determination is the committee’s alone.
Have a fibromyalgia diagnosis and do not know where to start?
We will go through the documentation and explain which sections it speaks to today — with no obligation
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