Woman stabbed to death in southern town of Rahat, allegedly by husband
Partner arrested, murder weapon seized as victim becomes 16th woman murdered this year, with most killed by their partners
Police opened an investigation Monday after a woman was stabbed to death in her home in Rahat, allegedly by her husband.
Police said Magen David Adom medics who arrived on the scene were forced to declare the victim’s death.
The husband was arrested and a weapon was seized at the scene.
The 27 year-old-woman was the 16th woman to be murdered in Israel this year. According to the Israel Women’s Network, which tracks femicide in the country, four of the women were accidentally killed as a result of crime they were not involved in, and the rest were murdered by people they knew — in most cases their partners.
Monday’s victim is the sixth Arab woman to be murdered this year and brings the total number of Arabs killed in 2024 thus far to 142, according to the Abraham Initiatives organization.
This year is on track to end with numbers similar to those seen in 2023, which the Abraham Initiatives said was the worst year for violent killings in the Arab population on record, with a record 156.
In its 2023 year-end report, the group pinned much of the blame for the surge in violence on Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s national security minister since the end of 2022. Ben Gvir, the organization said, had gutted a plan put in place by his predecessor, in cooperation with Arab municipal leaders, to stem the tide of crime in the Arab community.
In February, the national security also minister slashed funding for the Michal Sela Forum which runs two programs aimed at increasing the safety of women who are victims of domestic abuse. Ben Gvir justified the decision by accusing the organization of lining its own pockets instead of using the money to fund its programs — one that helps women summon security at the press of a button and another that provides women with a specially trained guard dog.
The Michal Sela Forum called the accusations “empty claims.”
Ben Gvir also urged the Knesset to vote down a bill that would allow courts to mandate electronic tracking of known abusers last year. He later passed his own version of the bill that included more prerequisites than the original version so as to make the law “more balanced” toward alleged abusers.
