Man arrested after ex-wife found stabbed to death in Rishon Lezion

Police to ask judge to deny bail for suspect reportedly found uncooperative near scene, as country struggles to cope with spate of killings

Michael Horovitz is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel

The scene of a suspected murder of a woman in her 50s at her apartment in the central city of Rishon Lezion, May 12, 2023. (Magen David Adom spokesperson)
The scene of a suspected murder of a woman in her 50s at her apartment in the central city of Rishon Lezion, May 12, 2023. (Magen David Adom spokesperson)

A man was arrested on suspicion of killing his ex-wife in her Rishon Lezion apartment building, police and medics said Friday.

Medics called to the scene, reportedly by the woman’s son, found her lying lifeless in the stairwell of the building with multiple stab wounds, the Magen David Adom ambulance service said in a statement.

The victim, described as a woman in her 50s, was declared dead at the scene.

Police said a suspect was arrested a short time later.

According to Hebrew media reports, the suspect is the woman’s ex-husband, who was found near the scene of the killing. He was not cooperating with investigators, Channel 12 news reported.

Police said they will seek to extend the suspect’s custody at an arraignment hearing.

Police at the scene where Hanan Abu Hait was shot and killed while sitting in her car in Haifa, May 8, 2023. (Flash90)

Witnesses told media outlets they heard the man arrive at the apartment and begin to argue with the woman. They reported hearing her scream, “he’s attacking me, he’s murdering me.”

One of the neighbors told Channel 12 that the suspect was constantly threatening the woman, blaming her for not being able to see his grandchildren, and noted that the murder took place on her birthday.

“He also had a restraining order against him, more than once. He did not have an electronic tracking bracelet,” she said.

Recent weeks have seen a dramatic spike in killings throughout the country, many of them tied to underworld gang wars or domestic violence. Over 90 suspected murders have taken place since the beginning of the year, including more than a dozen involving suspected femicide victims.

Verdit Danziger, CEO of the No To Violence Against Woman organization said she was “running out of words” amid the skyrocketing violence.

She slammed politicians who “probably do not understand the magnitude of the national tragedy that is unfolding before our eyes,” and said with proper funding of anti-domestic violence programs, the tragedy may have been avoided.

On Sunday, President Isaac Herzog on Monday decried the dramatic surge in homicides and violent crime as an “epidemic” plaguing Israel, hours after a 24-year-old mother was gunned down in Haifa, in a suspected criminal dispute.

Herzog described the rash of killings as an “emergency” and a “strategic challenge” for the country. He called on the government and all official bodies involved in the matter “to convene urgently for emergency deliberations, sit together, make decisive and resolute decisions, stop with the concerns and excuses, act with all tools and lead an uncompromising all-out war that will eradicate this threat.”

Campaigners have sought to pressure the government to devote more resources to protecting women and make good on promised earmarks meant to help stem domestic violence.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.

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