The story of Yehiel Ohev-Ami, a 61-year-old Prime Minister's Residence employee and father of a child with special needs who alleged verbal and physical abuse by the prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, was published this week. Although this case involves allegations of severe, exceptional, and extreme behavior, it is unfortunately part of a widespread phenomenon that a significant portion of those horrified by his interview likely suffer from as well.
According to research published by the Israel Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, the level of workplace abuse in the Israeli economy is very high. The data indicate that 64% of employees have experienced some form of aggressive behavior at work: 12.9% experienced it monthly, 9.2% weekly, and 4.4% daily. According to another study conducted by the Economy Ministry, not only has every second worker in Israel suffered or suffers from workplace abuse or harassment, but half of the victims experienced a decline in motivation as a result, and for 11% of them, the abuse led to a total loss of ability to function.
Occupational psychologist Eitan Meiri, author of the book workplace abuse and a leading researcher in the field, explained that workplace abuse involves practices designed to humiliate, undermine confidence, isolate, and sabotage employees in their roles through direct or manipulative forcefulness. It is one-sided, neither maintains nor allows dialogue, and the perpetrator's goal is to abuse the other for non-substantive reasons. In other words, workplace abuse is not intended to advance or benefit the business, but to humiliate and crush the other person. Workplace abuse is considered as such when the harm is recurring and ongoing across separate events over weeks and months.
The hidden cost of workplace abuse
According to data from the National Labor Federation presented to the Knesset during a hearing in the Labor and Welfare Committee, this phenomenon leads to the loss of approximately two million workdays per year and inflicts damage of about NIS 1.5 billion annually on the economy. According to Meiri, the overall annual damage caused to the Israeli economy exceeds NIS 25 billion.
According to research data in Israel and worldwide, men target both men and women, though more frequently men (60%) than women (40%). Conversely, women target other women (65%) more than men (35%). The data further reveal that in 75% of cases, the abuser is the direct supervisor or someone acting on their behalf. In contrast, in 5% of cases, it is an employee who makes their supervisor's life impossible. In the remaining cases, the abuser can be anyone else in the workplace.
The phenomenon and its negative consequences have not escaped the eyes of the legislature. However, the bill to prevent workplace abuse, which was approved in a preliminary reading in 2015, has since been passed back and forth between Knesset committees and the legal advisers of government ministries. At the same time, despite the failure to complete the legislation, labor courts have effectively adopted the proposal and utilize it in their rulings.
The courts are taking workplace abuse seriously
Surprisingly, this phenomenon exists even within the corridors of the National Insurance Institute, the body responsible for the social security of workplace injury victims. Judge Dafna Hasson-Zacharia ruled several days ago that an outstanding department manager at the National Insurance Institute suffered abuse and exclusion by the branch manager. This culminated in an incident of blatant disregard, which will consequently be considered an "exceptional event" constituting a workplace accident. The judge criticized the National Insurance Institute for acting as an "abusive employer" on its own premises.
The heart of the case involved an incident on June 9, 2020, which the plaintiff, represented by attorney Romi Honig, described as "the straw that broke the camel's back." During public reception hours, the branch manager and other management personnel conducted a professional conversation with an employee subordinate to the plaintiff while completely ignoring the plaintiff despite her physical presence and even though the matter was under her direct responsibility.
The court accepted the claim that this was a "peak event" of humiliation and professional dismissal that deviated from the normal work routine and caused severe emotional distress to the employee. Following the sequence of events and the key incident, the worker began suffering from insomnia, crying fits, and physical symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome.
Following her ruling, the court ordered the appointment of medical experts in psychiatry and rheumatology to examine the causal link between the abuse and the worker's medical condition.
Honig, who represented the senior employee in the lawsuit against the National Insurance Institute, explained that the uniqueness of the case lay in the nature of the abuse: "Unlike the familiar image of shouting or aggressive managers, what was described here was 'quiet abuse,' based on belittling, bypassing authority, and professional exclusion."
"The ruling sends a clear message to employers, and particularly to public bodies: Abuse does not have to be loud to be recognized as a workplace injury. Intentional disregard and professional exclusion are abusive tools that can lead to severe health damage, and in such cases, the courts will not hesitate to grant employees the protection they deserve," Honig said.
"The problem will not solve itself," Meiri explained. "Instead, a series of steps must be taken to address it: Legislation on the bill to prevent workplace abuse must be completed, regulations must be established for it, and a prolonged national campaign must be promoted to raise awareness of workplace abuse and its damages. Just as the Prevention of Sexual Harassment Law changed the discourse and approach to the subject in workplaces, the law to prevent workplace abuse will positively transform managerial and leadership practices in workplaces and bring about a dramatic reduction in abuse incidents. Both employees and employers will ultimately benefit from this."
Meiri further suggested promoting in-depth research in medicine, mental health, economics, and labor studies on the resulting damages in order to develop advanced approaches for monitoring and preventing abuse.