PTSD is assessed under Section 34(ב). It is not alone there — the section brings together a long list of conditions, and all of them are measured on the same scale:
What this means: the diagnosis does not set the percentage. A person with PTSD and a person with an adjustment disorder are measured on exactly the same ruler. What distinguishes them is not the name of the condition but how much it limits them.
The scale — and what is missing from it
Note the holes. The scale jumps from 30% to 50%, and from 50% to 70%. There is no way to receive 40% or 60% under this section — which means every move between rungs is a significant jump, not a fine adjustment.
| The condition | Percentage |
|---|---|
| (1) Full remission, with no disturbance of functioning and no limitation of the capacity to work | 0% |
| (2) Full remission or residual clinical signs, mild disturbance of mental or social functioning, mild to moderate limitation of the capacity to work | 10% |
| (3) Remission, mild clinical signs, a need for drug treatment exists, moderate disturbance of mental or social functioning exists as well as moderate limitation of the capacity to work | 20% |
| (4) Partial remission, with clinical signs of moderate severity, a need for regular drug treatment exists, marked disturbance of mental and social functioning exists, marked limitation of the capacity to work exists | 30% |
| (5) Partial remission with clear clinical signs, a need for regular drug treatment exists, severe disturbance of mental and social functioning exists, there is severe limitation of the capacity to work | 50% |
| (6) Active illness with very severe disturbance of mental and social functioning, there is very severe limitation of the capacity to work, or there is a need for prolonged psychiatric day hospitalisation | 70% |
| (7) Active illness, a need for constant supervision or full psychiatric hospitalisation exists | 100% |
The three components that recur at every rung
Read the table across rather than down, and you see that every row is built from the same three components:
- The clinical signs and the degree of remission — full, partial, or active illness
- The disturbance of mental and social functioning — mild, moderate, marked, severe, very severe
- The limitation of the capacity to work — on the same scale
And hovering between them is a fourth component: the need for treatment. The 10% rung does not mention drug treatment at all; from 20% “a need for drug treatment” appears; and from 30% upwards — “regular drug treatment”. Continuity of treatment is itself a distinguishing sign.
💡 Why this matters
Someone who describes genuine suffering to the committee but continues to work full time and is not in regular treatment will struggle to get above the lower rungs — not because their credibility is doubted, but because two of the three components are not met in the language of the Regulations. The reverse is also true: stopping work and continuous documented treatment are exactly what the higher rungs require.
The seven criteria — the committee’s checklist
At the end of the section there is a note setting out exactly what is examined. It is probably the single most useful paragraph in the whole section:
Note that two of them are limited to the last two years — the number of episodes and the number of hospitalisations. A severe event five years ago does not count there. What decides is the current picture.
Source: Section 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
- A detailed psychiatrist’s letter — not just a diagnosis, but a description of mental, social and occupational functioning in terms of what can no longer be done
- Psychological treatment summaries, including frequency and continuity
- Prescriptions over time — they are what proves “regular drug treatment”, a term that appears in the Regulations from 30% upwards
- Documentation of hospitalisations — including length and cause. The criterion refers to the last two years
- Employment records: breaks in work, sick days, changes in working hours, employer letters
- A family member’s account of functioning at home
- If the injury arose from a war event or a hostile action — documentation of the event itself and of your proximity to it
In the psychological field, a document that says “suffers from PTSD” is worth less than a document that says what the person stopped doing because of it.
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.
Not sure which rung your file sits on?
We will go through the documentation against the three components the Regulations require — with no obligation
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