Glasgow
Climate summit not barrier-free: Israeli minister in a wheelchair has to wait in front of the entrance
Karine Elharrar at a meeting of the British and Israeli Prime Ministers during the climate change summit.
© Alberto Pezzali / Picture Alliance
Israeli Minister Karine Elharrar was unable to attend the UN climate change conference in Glasgow on Monday. The reason: Elharrar is in a wheelchair, but the event was not barrier-free.
Israel’s energy minister, Karine Elharrar, is in a wheelchair and has muscular dystrophy. But that hadn’t prevented her from doing politics so far. At this year’s UN climate summit in Glasgow, however, the politician encountered an unexpected hurdle: the event was not barrier-free and Elharrar had to stay outside.
Elharrar tried several entrances
The minister had traveled to Glasgow from Israel with Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to attend the United Nations climate change summit. Elharrar is confined to a wheelchair or special vehicle due to her muscular dystrophy. So she tried in vain on Monday to get into the corresponding event building. According to media reports, she tried to enter through several entrances and had to wait two hours before finally returning to her hotel. A shuttle offered by the organizers was also not barrier-free and therefore useless for Elharrar.
Outrage over the incident
The energy minister was outraged by the situation and vented her anger on Twitter. “It is sad that the UN, which promotes accessibility for people with disabilities, will not offer any accessibility for its events in 2021,” said the 44-year-old on Monday evening. The British ambassador to Israel also tweeted, visibly shocked, about the incident. “I apologize deeply and sincerely to the Minister. We want a climate summit that welcomes and includes everyone,” wrote Neil Wigan. Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett also said he would not attend the conference on Tuesday if Elharrar did not get access to the event.
Lack of communication from Israel
George Eustice, Great Britain’s Environment Minister, also regretted the incident. But he also blamed a lack of communication from the Israeli side. “What would normally happen in this situation is that Israel would have informed us of this particular requirement for their minister,” Eustice told the BBC. The organizers have not yet issued a statement. On Tuesday, however, Elharrar was finally able to attend the follow-up meeting of the conference.