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 to discuss the worrying rise in the murder of women in Israel.
In the debate, Committee Chair MK Tameno Shete said the increase in the murder of women constitutes a violation of the basic code of the right to life, and that it is “an indictment against us as a society.” She further said: “Women are paying the heavy price of the distribution of firearms to those who are unfit to possess them.”
Israel Police representatives reported during the debate that 21 women have been murdered with firearms in the past year; only three of them were murdered with a licensed weapon, while 18 were murdered with illegal firearms. “There is a worrying rise in cases of women being murdered in both Arab society and Jewish society,” said Chief Superintendent Anat Yakir Blum, head of the Israel Police’s Crime Victims Division.
The debate was attended by Aliza Levy, the sister of Hodaya Fadida, who was murdered some two weeks ago by her ex-husband while she was in her third month of pregnancy with her new partner. Levy, who was adopted at age 15 by Hodaya’s mother, tearfully spoke about her sister and said that she herself is under threat and fears that she will be the next to be murdered. “I am threatened, and I am the next woman to be murdered. I do not want to blame the police officers, but when a woman wants to file a complaint, they discourage her at the police station. I am the next woman in line — I could leave here and be murdered, and I want help. I don’t want to end up like Hodaya,” said the sister.
Lili Ben Ami, one of the founders of the Michal Sela Forum, said, “We are a number of families of murdered women, and what is happening is simply heartbreaking. What is happening here is unacceptable. We have already raised the alarm and continue to do so. We are not against weapons, because weapons save lives, but they must not fall into the wrong hands.”
David Weitzman, Deputy Director General for Firearms at the Ministry of national security, explained that the background checks prior to receiving a weapon are the strictest in the world and require, among other things, criminal and medical clearance. Committee Chair MK Tameno Shete requested that only a family physician who knows the civilian applying for a weapon personally be authorized to sign the health statement. She further requested that anyone against whom a complaint had been filed with the Welfare Department for violence would be flagged in the warning system that is set to be launched by the Ministry of national security after the High Holidays, and that said individual would not be permitted to hold a weapon. Weitzman explained that as part of this system, the Welfare Ministry would have access to the list of firearm applicants and license holders.
Chief Superintendent Blum presented the data, and said “It is difficult to speak in numbers and statistics about these tragedies, but much can be learned from them as well. Contrary to all the figures that were mentioned here, we collected data on all cases involving the murder of women. So far in 2025, there have been 39 cases involving the murder of women, not necessarily within the family. In 2024, there were 35 cases, and in 2023, there were 32 cases. This marks a troubling increase in murders in both the Arab and Jewish sectors, with this year’s dramatic increase occurring in Jewish society — 17 women murdered in Jewish society out of 39 murdered overall. As for family-related murders in 2025 — 20 such cases occurred, of which eight were committed by a spouse, and 12 by another family member.”
Chief Superintendent Blum further noted that 21 women have been murdered this year with firearms, compared to 13 cases in 2024. Of the 21 murders, only three were committed with a licensed firearm, she said.
Committee Chair MK Tamano-Shata requested that the Israel Police develop a protocol to prevent men against whom a complaint had been filed with the Welfare Department, and not only with the police, from obtaining firearms. She recommended that the police meet with the relevant women’s organizations in order to formulate an orderly protocol to protect women.
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