Knesset on Wednesday rejected an opposition bill that would have let courts order men hit by a restraining order to wear monitoring bracelets following domestic violence offenses. When the results came in, female opposition lawmakers put on bracelets and waved their hand in protest against the outcome. As the bill failed to pass, it cannot be resubmitted in its current formulation for the next six months.
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash-Ta’al) during the parliamentary debate on monitoring bracelets, March 22, 2023 (Footage: Knesset Channel)
MK Aida Touma-Sliman (Hadash-Ta’al) said “responsibility for any woman who is harmed or murdered will be on the heads of far-right coalition lawmakers.” Racist National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir torpedoed the bill earlier this week in the ministerial legislative committee, attacked opposition lawmakers from the Knesset dais, accusing them of politically exploiting the murder of women. Lawmakers who had supported the bill gathered around him and called out “shame!”
Histadrut women’s organization Na’amat President Hagit Pe’er said in response to Wednesday’s vote that “the government is directly endangering the lives of women in Israel. There are bills that the coalition sees as important to pass quickly, mainly those of a personal nature designed to serve themselves, while the rest can wait. It’s better that they don’t dare go on the tours they like so much of shelters for battered women. Shame on you – we don’t want to see you.”
On last June, the Public Security Committee has passed in a first reading a bill which would require confirmed domestic abusers for whom a protection order has been issued to wear electronic tracking bracelets. The bill was introduced five years ago by MK Touma-Sliman (Hadash), the former chair of the Committee for the Advancement of Women and Gender Equality.
The bill would allow the court to order the use of electronic restraint on a person who has committed a violent offense against a family member based on a risk assessment, thus allowing women affected by violence to feel safer and more protected.
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=29684
