The Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality, chaired by MK Pnina Tameno Shete (Blue and White—National Unity Party), convened on Tuesday for a debate on violence against women and murders of women.
Lara Tsinman, chair of the Families of Murder Victims Organization, said, “The late Shirley Yehuda was murdered by a pedophile who was released from prison six months ago. It should be checked—why didn’t the supervision of the Tzur Unit work? Why did the family have to resort to crowdfunding immediately in order to assist the three orphans who remained without a mother? The murder of the late Miran Bitan could also have been prevented had she been offered a protective order with electronic monitoring, while the complaints to the police were not handled.”
MK Adi Ezuz (Yesh Atid): “Violence is a spectrum, and yesterday too in this House there was verbal violence by a man Member of Knesset against a woman Member of Knesset, so we shouldn’t be surprised that there is also violence outside. I have been a Member of Knesset for two months, and every debate that is held, more women are murdered. We have to reduce the range of electronic monitoring in order to save lives.”
MK Karine Elharrar (Yesh Atid): “From one debate to the next the situation does not improve. We’re talking about 38 women who were murdered in 2025 in gender-based attacks. This is something that is inconceivable and unreasonable. It’s a problem that goes beyond gender boundaries; many of [the victims] were known, and the writing was on the wall. There were 11 cases in which firearms were used, and there’s a policy of the Minister of National Security to flood [the public] with guns. No one is against guns for self-defense, but are there dangerousness checks in the [Ministry of] Welfare? What about electronic monitoring?”
Ministry of Welfare and Social Affairs official Saed Tali: “From August 2024 until today we have performed 70 dangerousness assessments. I can see a trend in which at first there were four referrals per month, and in May 2025 there were 15. A total of 95% of the cases ended up with a medium and high dangerousness assessment. Within ten days we bring the dangerousness assessment before a judge, so that there will be electronic protection that prevent murders. There is an improvement trend. But still, we can and should do more. Perhaps there are women who don’t turn [to us] or judges who don’t refer. In terms of staff, we can give more assessments, but we need referrals. There are five workers in our unit. We have [a quota of] 13 positions for this year, and another 12 for next year.” MK Matti Sarfatti Harcavi (Yesh Atid): “So you’re understaffed. We have to see how to increase the integration and remuneration [of workers].”
Lynn Kaplan, head of the Tel Mond Local Council, said that since 2021 there had been a constant increase in incidents of severe violence. She said that there was an increase in non-diagnosis of cases of post-traumatic stress in the wake of the war. Kaplan said that 50 percent of the murder cases were committed with a firearm, and consequently, there should be synchronization with the local authorities regarding gun permits. Ministry of Welfare official Tali said that following a new law, social workers from welfare departments were required to report directly [to the Ministry of Welfare]. “If there are risk factors such as violence, addiction, illnesses or a suicide threat, they’re required to report to me, and it will reach the licensing unit. Cases have reached the welfare [services] of women who didn’t want to complaint to the police or request issuance of a protective order, and when I report, it reaches the licensing division within hours,” Tali said.
Chief Supt. Anat Yakir of the israel police: “All the cases of murders of women come before the police commissioner.” Committee Chair MK Tameno Shete: “Take the cases of all the women murdered in the past three years. You have a failing in the system. I know a woman who filed a complaint and withdrew it. Doesn’t that activate a red line in the system? Perhaps he threatened her? You have to understand where we are failing.” MK Elharrar: “I said that 42 percent of the cases this year were known to the police, and that is important, but we have to learn from this for next time.” Chief Supt. Yakir: “We distributed a document with all relevant guidelines, which reached all the investigators in Israel from the district level downward, on the domestic violence issue. The issue is handled with maximum attention at the highest ranks, with monitoring of women at risk, and we have learned from cases that happened.”
MK Merav Ben Ari (Yesh Atid): “We are in a very violent atmosphere, including the incident against me yesterday in the plenum, or when the women who distributed flyers were put in prison. The soccer derby event was also violent. There’s no one in charge. You’ve seen what is happening in the Negev, with statistics that have never been recorded before. Today, the police have no solution for protection of women. A representative of the minister said in another debate that the murder victims are Arab women who are murdered with knives, and that is not true. [Addressing the Minister of National Security’s advisor] David, you fought to make sure the money wouldn’t arrive. What is the Ministry of National Security doing to protect women? You are distributing guns, and you’re in a violent period, and I haven’t even mentioned reservists who return home with post-traumatic stress.”
Supt. Amir Belcher, Commander of the Technological Monitoring Center: “There were 35 court rulings for technological monitoring; 31 were implemented in practice and four were not implemented for various reasons. A total of 114 requests reached the court. The court receives an answer from us within five days. The courts sometimes draw this out for months.”
Adv. Hila Buskila of the Courts Administration: “The courts decide within a few days. In parallel, the Ministry of Welfare has to submit the dangerousness assessment to the police within ten days, and then there has to be a hearing in the presence of the parties. There were 170 requests for a supervision order. Of these, 115 also came before the [Ministry of] Welfare for a dangerousness request. Since the law went into effect, 35 supervision orders have been issued.” Ministry of Welfare official Tali: “We carried out 70 dangerousness assessments, not 100. Sometimes the woman changed her mind, or the man was detained and it wasn’t necessary. I was in a hearing in which we gave a recommendation of high dangerousness, and the two sides reached an agreement.”
Adv. Buskila: “The law is complex, and for a protective order you need a police opinion on the range that enables implementation of a protective order. There has to be a distance of 15 kilometers between the monitored individual and the person under protection, and that’s an impossible distance for spouses who live next to each other. It makes it unfeasible if they live 15 kilometers from each other.”
Committee Chair MK Tameno Shete: “Perhaps a legislative solution needs to be given here. This distance undermines the implementation of the law’s purpose.” David Bavli, advisor to the Minister of National Security: “There is a quick solution that doesn’t involve legislation. There are women who are afraid, and rightly so, to go to the police; a woman could go to the court and it will be done in front of a judge. There are large number of protective orders, and they need extra protection by means of technological monitoring.” MK Ben Ari: “What is the ministry doing to prevent the murder of women?” Bavli: “The ministry is doing what you failed to do for several years. The ministry passed a bill in seven months that you didn’t pass.”
Committee Chair MK Tameno Shete: “I asked you to form a governmental investigative committee for this issue. You raised the issue of the rubric that can complicate things. The bill passed, what else?”
MK Ben Ari said angrily, “There has never been such a peak number of murdered women under any other minister, and you’ve done nothing. Besides speaking contemptuously, you’re not doing anything here.” Bavli replied, “You didn’t pass a single bill in your committee, and that’s why you’re sinking in the polls.” MK Ben Ari: “Answer already. Where are the ministry’s professionals? Why are you sitting here? You’re a political appointment of the minister. This is a Knesset committee.”
Maj. Liora Nahon, legal advisor of the Misgav Unit: “We are working tirelessly with the Courts Administration and the [Ministry of] Welfare, with detectives who are deployed throughout Israel. In coordination with the Ministry of National Security, a campaign is due to be launched next month. We reach out to crime victims when we know that there are inmates who are slated for release, and we inform them about the option of electronic monitoring.”
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