MK Touma-Sliman: No Woman is Immune to Domestic Violence

The sister of 32-year-old murder victim Michal Sela, a social worker from Motza near Jerusalem who was stabbed by her husband, Eliran Malol, last Friday, October 4, slammed the far-right government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not funding a 2016 National Program to Combat Violence against Women, Maariv reported on Sunday, October 6.

Michal Sela, a social worker from Motza who was stabbed to death by her husband last Friday, October 4, in her home in Motza

Michal Sela, a social worker from Motza who was stabbed to death by her husband last Friday, October 4, in her home in Motza (Photo: Al Ittihad)

“If this happens to us, it could happen to any family,” Lili Ben-Ami told the newspaper. “It happened to her in her own living room in such a cruel way. This could have been prevented if the National Program to Combat Violence against Women – unfunded by the state since 2016 – would actually be carried out. What are they waiting for?”

Hadash MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Joint List), who heads the Knesset lobby against domestic violence condemned the crime and said the political deadlock created by Netanyahu means the Public Security Ministry cannot throw more money at the problem. “She was a social worker. That means no woman is immune to domestic violence”, said the Communist MK. Touma-Sliman slammed the Netanyahu government: “If additional women will be murdered in 2019, their blood will be on the hands of the PM and other ministers.”

Since 2004, 163 women have been murdered by their partners in Israel, half of the cases were familiar to the social welfare services. This figure does not include women murdered by other family members, men who were murdered by their partners, or women who were in the country illegally.

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