A 71-year-old pensioner from Jerusalem, who tried to cross the intersection of Yermiyahu and Shamgar streets in Jerusalem at night about two years ago, lost her balance and was seriously injured in her elbow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the woman, the accident occurred as a result of uneven ground covered with gravel and stones, which had accumulated in the crosswalk area due to construction work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From the scene of the accident, the woman was taken to a health insurance company branch, and immediately afterwards to the emergency room at Shaarei Tzedek Hospital. During the emergency examination, a fracture was diagnosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After the surgery, the woman was referred for medical treatment and physical therapy, but despite this, she continued to suffer from severe functional impairment in her elbow, along with ongoing pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following the incident, the woman turned to lawyer Itamar Ben Ami, who filed a tort claim on her behalf against the Jerusalem Municipality, and a claim for long-term care benefits from the National Insurance Institute.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the lawsuit against the municipality, Attorney Ben Ami described the place where the accident occurred as a central and dangerous intersection. According to him, at night the place is characterized by busy traffic, poor lighting, and at the time of the accident, the traffic light at the intersection was not working. Despite this, no one was sent to direct pedestrians or warn them of the hazard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawsuit claims that the accident occurred in a location within the city limits, on a section of road, sidewalk, and crosswalk that are under the responsibility of the Jerusalem Municipality in terms of maintenance, safety, and cleanliness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the allegations, the municipality failed to prevent the accumulation of gravel and stones in the area of \u200b\u200bthe crosswalk, did not place warning signs, did not fence off the hazard, and did not ensure adequate lighting. It was also alleged that periodic inspections and reasonable supervision of the proper functioning of the sidewalks and crosswalks were not carried out, and therefore a dangerous hazard was created for pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Attorney Ben Ami sought to hold the municipality liable for his client's damages, relying on the legal rules that allow the burden of proof to be transferred to the landowner when the damage was caused by property under his full control. According to him, the fall resulted from a dangerous situation that arose in a place where the municipality was supposed to ensure safe walking for pedestrians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The lawsuit claims that the woman, a pensioner with no income from work, suffers significant damages as a result of the accident, including pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of the pleasures of life, and future medical expenses. It is also claimed that before the accident she did not need nursing care at all, while after it she became severely limited in her functioning, suffers from ongoing pain and a significant increase in medical expenses. Her functional condition, it is claimed, will not return to normal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The National Insurance Institute recognized the plaintiff as needing increased assistance following the incident, and she began receiving a monthly nursing care benefit from the institution. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the lawsuit, the municipality submitted an actuarial opinion to the court, which examined the scope of the long-term care benefit received by the plaintiff from National Insurance in the past and in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opinion was based on National Insurance data, and assumed that the woman was approved for various levels of dependency over a period of several years, and was later approved for a long-term care benefit at a fixed level of dependency for the rest of her life. The actuarial calculation estimated the amount of the long-term care benefit discounted for the past and future in hundreds of thousands of shekels, as of 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the notices it submitted to the court, the Jerusalem Municipality claimed that the full National Insurance benefits that the woman receives and will receive in the future due to the accident, including the nursing care benefit, should be deducted from any amount awarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The municipality referred to the Supreme Court ruling regarding the obligation to deduct National Insurance benefits in cases of this type, and argued that unless the plaintiff proves that some of the benefits stem from other impairments unrelated to the accident, all of them should be deducted. It was further argued that if some of the nursing care stems from other illnesses or injuries, the compensation components for assistance awarded in the lawsuit should also be reduced.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition, the municipality noted that the plaintiff was involved in a car accident at a later stage, and asked the court to order her to provide details of the procedure conducted regarding this accident, in order to prevent a situation of double compensation for the same heads of damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the actuarial opinion, the municipality claimed that the plaintiff had received tens of thousands of shekels from the National Insurance Institute since the accident, and was expected, according to actuarial calculations, to receive an additional one hundred and fifty thousand shekels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Jerusalem Municipality also submitted a medical opinion by Dr. Shmuel Weiss, which determined that the plaintiff 15% had a disability only for the injury to her elbow, and an additional disability for the scar. Under these circumstances, it claimed that the National Insurance receipts were "swallowing" and higher than the damage caused to the plaintiff, and therefore the claim against the municipality should be dismissed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After lengthy litigation, the parties reached a compromise agreement, according to which the municipality will compensate the woman for a total amount of 70,000 shekels, in addition to the National Insurance proceeds, without acknowledging its responsibility for the incident, while finally and completely settling any future claims the woman may have against the municipality and other parties related to the accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The settlement agreement was submitted for approval by Judge Mirit Forer of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, who gave it the force of a judgment, while exempting the parties from paying fees and an order for expenses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Attorney Ben Ami, the case proves that even when the victims are elderly, who do not ostensibly suffer from a loss of income due to their retirement, they can still be awarded very significant compensation, which, together with the National Insurance Institute benefits, totals over 250,000 shekels.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u05e4\u05e0\u05e1\u05d9\u05d5\u05e0\u05e8\u05d9\u05ea \u05db\u05d1\u05ea 71 \u05de\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05e9\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd, \u05e9\u05e0\u05d9\u05e1\u05ea\u05d4 \u05dc\u05d7\u05e6\u05d5\u05ea \u05d1\u05dc\u05d9\u05dc\u05d4, \u05dc\u05e4\u05e0\u05d9 \u05db\u05e9\u05e0\u05ea\u05d9\u05d9\u05dd, \u05d0\u05ea \u05e6\u05d5\u05de\u05ea \u05d4\u05e8\u05d7\u05d5\u05d1\u05d5\u05ea \u05d9\u05e8\u05de\u05d9\u05d4\u05d5 \u05d5\u05e9\u05de\u05d2\u05e8 \u05d1\u05d9\u05e8\u05d5\u05e9\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd, \u05d0\u05d9\u05d1\u05d3\u05d4 \u05d0\u05ea \u05e9\u05d9\u05d5\u05d5\u05d9 \u05de\u05e9\u05e7\u05dc\u05d4 \u05d5\u05e0\u05d7\u05d1\u05dc\u05d4 \u05e7\u05e9\u05d5\u05ea \u05d1\u05de\u05e8\u05e4\u05e7\u05d4. \u05dc\u05d8\u05e2\u05e0\u05ea \u05d4\u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05d4, \u05d4\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4 \u05d0\u05e8\u05e2\u05d4, \u05db\u05ea\u05d5\u05e6\u05d0\u05d4 \u05de\u05e7\u05e8\u05e7\u05e2 \u05de\u05e9\u05d5\u05d1\u05e9\u05ea \u05e9\u05db\u05d5\u05e1\u05ea\u05d4 \u05d1\u05d7\u05e6\u05e5 \u05d5\u05d1\u05d0\u05d1\u05e0\u05d9\u05dd, \u05e9\u05d4\u05e6\u05d8\u05d1\u05e8\u05d5 \u05d1\u05d0\u05d6\u05d5\u05e8 \u05de\u05e2\u05d1\u05e8 \u05d7\u05e6\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4 \u05e2\u05e7\u05d1 \u05e2\u05d1\u05d5\u05d3\u05d5\u05ea \u05d1\u05e0\u05d9\u05d9\u05d4. \u05de\u05de\u05e7\u05d5\u05dd \u05d4\u05ea\u05d0\u05d5\u05e0\u05d4 \u05e4\u05d5\u05e0\u05ea\u05d4 \u05d4\u05d0\u05d9\u05e9\u05d4 \u05dc\u05e1\u05e0\u05d9\u05e3 \u05e9\u05dc \u05e7\u05d5\u05e4\u05ea \u05d7\u05d5\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd, \u05d5\u05de\u05d9\u05d3 \u05d0\u05d7\u05e8 \u05db\u05da \u05dc\u05d7\u05d3\u05e8 \u05d4\u05de\u05d9\u05d5\u05df \u05d1\u05d1\u05d9\u05ea \u05d4\u05d7\u05d5\u05dc\u05d9\u05dd \"\u05e9\u05e2\u05e8\u05d9 […]","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":552219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[26420,87,63455,8842,63454],"class_list":["post-1032784","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-4","tag-26420","tag-87","tag-63455","tag-8842","tag-63454"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n