Since 2022, at least 11 women in Israel were killed by men known to the authorities to be dangerous, according to findings presented on Monday at the Knesset committee for the advancement of the status of women. “It was entirely possible to prevent these murders—if the relevant people had acted in a timely manner,” acting Committee Chair MK Matti Sarfati Harkavi.
One of the people providing testimony was a woman whose brother murdered their mother, a tragedy she said could have been prevented.
“My brother was involuntarily hospitalized a year before the incident,” the woman, who was identified by the initial M., said. “The state neglected my brother’s treatment and he was released on a conditional order. The condition was a monthly visit to a mental health clinic, and only after he was arrested for hurting my mother did he tell me that he visited the clinic but did not receive his medication because he told the psychiatrist that it ‘doesn’t do me any good’. I was speechless.”
- said she was shocked to realize that her brother was untreated and no one had thought to inform the family. “How could it be that they simply sent a dangerous person home without medication and without notifying the family? I am begging you—treat people with mental health issues, help them after their release, and don’t just leave the entire burden on the family,” she said.
She also brought up the instance of Avivit Ariel, a 48-year-old woman who was murdered by her brother last month in their home in Kiryat Ata.
The lawmakers who were present for the hearing demanded that the powers of the interministerial committee investigating the murder of women at the hands of their partners be expanded to include women who were murdered by other family members, including family members dealing with mental health issues. Currently, the committee does not have the ability to collect relevant information from the Ministry of Health due to the patients’ rights law, so the committee can only view cases after someone has been indicted.
“The Ministry of Health does not agree to give us the information before, and when I don’t receive an update from the police that it is a domestic violence murder and that there is an indictment, then I cannot view the case,” Sa’id Tali, manager of the issue at the Ministry of Welfare and member of the committee, said.
Tal Hochman, head of the Israel Women's Network, criticized the committee for not publishing an annual report and said that the group spoke with the committee a year ago calling for a law to protect women from violent mentally ill family members.
Gali Etzion from the women’s organization Na’amat noted that existing enforcement tools meant to protect women are not utilized. “Families who are in danger are groping in the dark and have no knowledge, and this is a very complex and problematic situation,” she said. She noted that a law passed in 2023 allowing ankle monitors to be used on some men under restraining orders for domestic violence has so far been used in only five cases.
Sarona Avar Hadani from the Ministry of Health said that as far back as 2023, a law was on its way to the Knesset that would allow more access to information about violent men being treated for mental illness in danger of assaulting family members. “Budgetary concerns arose that stopped the process and we were asked to delay it until the budget was organized,” she said.
Representatives from the Ministries of Justice and National Security claimed that there were no such budgetary concerns. In her concluding remarks, MK Harkavi said that the Ministry of Health should ensure that the budgetary issue is resolved, and then advance the law—the wording of which has already been agreed upon.
This article was translated from Hebrew by Tzivia Gross.
