Woman stabbed and moderately injured; partner arrested

A woman was stabbed and moderately injured Wednesday in the northern Arab town of Tamra, with police saying they arrested her partner as the suspect in the incident.

The woman, 44, was taken to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa for treatment, the Israel Police said in a statement.

The suspect, also 44, was arrested shortly afterwards at his home.

Police said the incident was apparently part of a domestic dispute.

According to the Hebrew media reports, the suspect is the woman’s former husband.

A series of killings and violent assaults of women by their spouses or significant others in recent months has sparked calls for action by lawmakers and law enforcement authorities.

Earlier this month a pregnant woman, 29-year-old Roan Al-Katani of Rahat, died at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba, allegedly from wounds sustained when her husband beat her.

Al-Katani’s fetus did not survive. Her husband, 32, was arrested and remanded. He denies attacking his wife.

Hours later the top level Ministerial Committee for Legislation voted to back a bill to impose electronic tracking on violent men who  have restraining orders against them. The system would alert its carrier and police if the man approaches his spouse or home in contravention of a court order.

Eleven Israeli women have been killed this year, allegedly by somebody known to them.

Thirteen Israeli women were murdered in 2019 by someone known to them. In 2018, 25 women were murdered in such incidents, the highest number in years, prompting a string of protests and urgent calls for authorities to take action against the increasing incidence of violence against women. Many of those women filed police complaints prior to their deaths out of concern for their safety.

Police and social service organizations have reported a major rise in domestic violence complaints since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

Thousands of people protested in Tel Aviv earlier this month against the trend, calling for government action to end violence against women. Demonstration organizers said most of the NIS 250 million ($71 million) approved in 2017 for national programs to prevent domestic violence have not yet been allocated.

Also this month, the Welfare and Social Services Ministry published figures that showed a 112 percent increase in the number of complaints about domestic violence received by its hotline in May compared to April.