The control room of Kan radio studios, Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, in Tel Aviv, Israel. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Four of Israel’s major television broadcasting and production companies signed a pledge to audition actors with disabilities for all new studio productions, The Algemeiner learned on Monday.

Kan, Reshet, Hot and Yes have also committed to create a more inclusive selection process for all jobs, on and off screen, in the film industry. The pledge was spearheaded by the Ruderman Family Foundation in collaboration with the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund and the Israeli Directors Guild.

The Foundation hosted a recent event celebrating the four Israeli companies and their promise, as well as their commitment to promoting authentic representation in the Israeli entertainment industry, which is the practice of casting an actor who has a disability in a role that portrays the same disability. At the event, Israel’s Minister of Culture and Sport Hili Tropper, whose sister uses a wheelchair, praised the pledge. Ziv Naveh, CEO & artistic director of the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund, said the campaign “is a call for awakening and action.”

Naveh added, “There are talented people who have become transparent despite their abilities and skills. As part of an industry that creates content for the screen, we are well placed to influence and make a change. The small effort required of us will yield great benefit not only to the community of people with disabilities but to Israeli society as a whole.”

The Ruderman Family Foundation, the Gesher Multicultural Film Fund and the Israeli Directors Guild recently commissioned a poll that revealed 70 percent of Israelis consider authentic representation of people with disabilities in the entertainment industry an important issue, but 71 percent said they feel the matter is “very low to nonexistent” in Israel’s film industry.

The survey also found that 91 percent of respondents said they are less willing to watch a film or show if the production were not inclusive in its casting. Additionally, 86 percent of Israelis believe the government should intervene to make sure there is authentic representation on screen.

“Even though in the last year more authentic representation of actors with disabilities can be seen on screen in Israel, most productions remain inaccessible, and many actors as well as off-screen professionals give up in advance on their dreams of acting and working in the industry,” said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation. “Therefore, it is extremely encouraging to see four of Israel’s major production companies make this commitment to bringing about a more inclusive film industry that offers far more opportunities to people with disabilities. These companies have now become powerful changemakers by affirming that they will no longer tolerate discriminatory practices in their midst.”

Roei Alba, CEO of the Directors Guild, said the pledge “promotes and encourages equal employment in all the professions on set — creators, actors, production people, etc. We greatly appreciate the entities that have chosen to sign the pledge and take an active part in the social change on the issue of inclusion of people with disabilities into the film and television industry in Israel.”

The Ruderman Foundation launched a similar pledge in the United States to promote more inclusivity and commit studios to audition actors with disabilities. CBS Entertainment joined the pledge in 2019, and earlier this year it was adopted by NBC Universal, Paramount Pictures and Sony Pictures Entertainment.

The Foundation penned an open letter last year calling on studio, production, and network executives to create more job opportunities for people with disabilities. The letter was signed by numerous well-known Hollywood figures, including Oscar winners George Clooney and Joaquin Phoenix; award-nominated actors Danny DeVito, Ed Norton, Bryan Cranston and Mark Ruffalo; actresses Glenn Close, Olivia Munn and Eva Longoria; and Oscar-winning director Peter Farrelly.

The Ruderman Foundation also awarded a $1 million grant to the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last year to support its diversity and inclusion efforts.