The annual report on "femicide" (gender-based murder of women) in Israel, published by the Israel Observatory on Femicide, indicates that in 2023, which ended only recently, 29 women were murdered in Israel. Of these murders, 22 were a direct result of "femicide," and the rest were on criminal grounds. This, compared to 2022, when 24 women were murdered on gender-based grounds. Data obtained by Israel Hayom also shows that while the number of murders in the Arab sector doubled in 2023, the ratio of murdered women in the sector decreased.
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One cannot separate the October 7th attack, when women were targeted for murder, rape, abuse, and mutilation, from the issue of femicide. Director of the Israel Observatory on Femicide, Prof. Shalva Weil, a senior researcher at the Hebrew University, says: "Gender-based murders constitute crimes against humanity and this phenomenon must stop. It occurs in every country, but no country has suffered from the exponential increase caused by the barbaric Hamas attack when women and girls were raped and murdered just for being women."
The Israel Observatory on Femicide is an independent body that operates under the auspices of the Hebrew University and analyzes the data obtained from various news websites and databases, including the Israel Police, and provides quantitative and qualitative findings on the gender-based murder of women in Israel.
Data shows that all women who were murdered last year were murdered by men. In only 3 cases out of the 22 cases of "femicide" in 2023, the woman had previously complained to the police. In the other two cases, the murderer had a criminal background, and in nine cases neighbors and relatives knew about previous incidents of violence on the part of the killer but did not report it to the authorities.
About one third of the cases of femicide occurred after the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Three women were murdered only in the last week of December: Rachel Bohbot – a resident of Haifa, was murdered in the presence of her three children, and her partner was arrested on suspicion of murder; a woman from Holon was murdered in her apartment and her son was arrested as a suspect; and a woman from Kiryat Yam was murdered and her partner is a suspect in the murder.
In November 2023, three women were murdered on gender-based grounds: Aya Abu Hajag, a 25-year-old, in the advanced stages of pregnancy, was murdered in Lod – allegedly by her younger brother, who was sent by their father to murder her. Maya Glogovski, 38, was allegedly murdered by a man she met on a dating site and went out with for a short while. He allegedly murdered her when she refused to marry him. Zehava Damari, a 56-year-old from Eilat, was allegedly murdered by her partner. In the past, she had filed several complaints against him. According to Professor Weil, "it seems that stress levels are increasing in Israeli society and the rates of domestic violence might also be on the rise."
The report shows a segmentation of the family relationship of the murderers. In 86% of the cases of femicide, the female victim knew the killer/suspect, and in 95% of cases, the killer and the victim were from the same ethnic background. In 59% of the cases where the murderer's identity is known, the main suspect is the past or present spouse. In about 19% of cases, the main suspects are brothers of the murdered woman; in 10% it is her children. With the exception of one case - the murder of Lidor Swissa from Lod by her neighbor – all the suspects/murderers were spouses or family members.
About 50% of all the murdered women were Jewish, 41% belonged to the Arab sector and 9% had foreign citizenship. According to Abraham Initiatives' 2023 data, 244 people were murdered in the Arab sector, 16 of them were women. Since the number of murders in the Arab sector doubled in comparison to 2022, the ratio of murders of women has decreased.
In almost all cases of murder of Arab women, the motives for femicide were linked to the woman's lifestyle, which was perceived as damaging to the family's honor. One of the most notable cases of murder was that of Sarit Ahmed, a lesbian woman of Druze origin, who was murdered because of her sexual orientation, which she refused to hide. The leading murder tool is still a knife – more than 54% of the women who were murdered, were murdered by stabbing, and 18% were murdered by shooting.
The report does not generally include the murder of women as a result of terrorism, but some of the cases that occurred on October 7th amounted to femicide when women were sexually abused before being murdered. The interrogation of the terrorists revealed that they were instructed in advance to find women and rape them before murdering them. Women went through sexual abuse, dismemberment, and horrors that are hard to imagine. Women who returned from Hamas captivity said that some of the hostages they met there were sexually assaulted.
And the gender-based murders continue – even last Friday
The shocking silence of the world and international women's organizations regarding the crimes committed by Hamas against Israeli women has already been deliberated. An article distributed by Tazpit Press Service (TPS) to about 300 organizations in Israel and abroad, asked the latter to condemn the crimes committed by Hamas. The overwhelming majority remained silent and remain silent to this day.
Unfortunately, the murder of women continues into 2024: last Friday, the body of Asmahan Kadura from Nahf was found near the Yasif junction, with signs of violence on her body.
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