Enemy of the disabled

Journalist Amnon Abramowitz revealed on Channel 2 TV Saturday that Israel Our Home member Esterina Tartman, due to take up the tourism portfolio, can only work four hours a day, as per a court ruling. The Haifa district court awarded her more than a million-and-a-half shekels (roughly USD 360,000) in compensation following a car accident, and 40 percent disability - the verdict was approved by the High Court.

On hearing the story for the first time, it may sound amusing. Upon reading the seven pages of the verdict it is rather disturbing. It not only says something about Ms. Tartman's intentions, but also about the court's judgment.

Ms. Tartman (in Justice Yitzhak Amit's verdict her name appears as Teterman, for some reason) collided with another vehicle in January 1997. She continued working at the Yahav Bank while also studying Business Administration at the Touro College. After four-and-a-half years she decided to leave the bank. Tartman claimed that her departure resulted from her inability to function. "When no one is around, I collapse," she told the judge. The two insurance companies that were sued claimed that her leaving the bank had nothing to do with the accident. She left because she wanted to embark on a political career.

The judge believed Tartman. She skillfully managed to elicit mercy as well as admiration for her not seeking pity.

And this is how the judge described her version: "She uses a back strap almost 24 hours a day, and from time to time also a neck brace; however, she makes an effort not to wear it in public. She finds it difficult to sit for more than an hour or two, and while testifying and waiting on the court benches she twisted and turned in her seat. She ended up using the neck brace during her testimony. The prosecutor said that Tartman divorced following her accident, and that she is currently a single parent to four children…following her accident she felt that her concentration and memory were impaired as were her overall working skills, and she is unable to work and succeed as she did in the past."

If so how can you be a candidate for the Knesset, Tartman was asked. "She responded that working as a Knesset member would suit her limitations. It is not consecutive work with a rigid timetable, but rather, work that involves talking and contact with people etc."

"As to the question of whether she tried to find employment, she explained that due to her physical and mental (!) limitations she cannot take up management positions that match her skills, and that she is trying even today (in 2004) to find employment that suits her condition, but has been unsuccessful."

In the classic Hollywood comedy, The Fortune Cookie, money-grubbing angler (Walter Matthau) uses his brother-in-law (Jack Lemmon) as bait to hook a large insurance company and cheat it out of a tax-free USD 250,000. Of course there is no room for comparison: Jack Lemmon was a pathetic crook, whereas Knesset member Tartman will soon decide whether we'll embark on a military operation against Iran.

The best of both worlds

I imagine that following the accident she was involved in, Tartman suffered real pain and she is still suffering today. But more than her lawsuit makes her a suspect of wrongdoing, it depicts her as a person who was out to get the best of both worlds: She wanted to be depicted as a disabled person who had lost her ability to work, while also taking pride in being an energetic politician. A four-hour working day as ordered by the occupational doctor became a 20-hour day. "I go into frenzy," she boasted in front of an investigator posing as a journalist.

I will not shed a tear over the money the court awarded Tartman. But I am disturbed by the damages that stories such as these cause the handicapped population in Israel; all those who despite their physical disabilities struggle to work full time. Tartman makes honest people, who deserve all the assistance and encouragement they can get, to be depicted as crooks.

Beyond this, Ms. Tartman would do well if she would comply with the medical recommendation to finally resort to a four-hour working day. Her words will only inflate outgoing tourism. The less she works, the less damage she'll do.