Special departments to deal with domestic violence will be established at 16 police stations throughout Israel in 2018, Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced on Wednesday, December 20.
During a meeting of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality last month that dealt with the implementation of the recommendations of the inter-ministerial committee on the prevention of domestic violence, the committee chairwoman, MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash – Joint List), revealed that the inter-ministerial committee recommendations had only been partially implemented and expressed concern over the lack of funding for the initiative – estimated at some NIS 50 million per year for the next five years.
Erdan’s announcement of December 20 was intended to allay the concerns expressed by Committee Chairwoman Touma-Sliman last month, and was made at the latest meeting of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality. During the same meeting Erdan also announced that his ministry intends to promote the “electronic bracelet bill,” initiated by MKs Aliza Lavie and Touma-Sliman, and will begin a pilot program for its implementation at the end of December. The pilot program will allow the police to request court permission to give a man who violates a restraining order or who, following arrest, was deemed to represent “a high level of danger” an electronic bracelet for tracking to ensure that he will not constitute a threat to his family.