In 2024, femicide in Israel persisted at a rate comparable to the previous year, with 20 cases reported, averaging 1.81 per month. Half of the victims were Israeli Arabs, highlighting a disproportionate representation given their 21% share of the population. Most victims knew their perpetrators, often a husband or family member, and the murderers typically shared the same ethnic background. Stabbings were the most common method of killing. Alarmingly, only 20% of victims had sought police assistance for prior domestic violence. A significant data gap exists between police records and the findings of the Israel Observatory on Femicide (IOF), which documented 37 murders compared to the police’s 29, emphasizing disparities in case investigations and indictments, particularly within the Arab community.

The Israel Observatory on Femicide, established in 2020, has released its annual report, offering a thorough examination of gender-based murders in Israel throughout 2024. The report, available in Hebrew, Arabic, and English, meticulously documents femicide cases, aiming to shed light on the stark realities surrounding these tragic incidents and inform strategies for prevention and justice.

Prof. Shalva Weil: “The heinous crime of femicide, the murder of women in Israeli society just because they are women, continues this year unabated, both among Jews and among Israeli Arabs. The vast majority of the victims knew the perpetrators, who were husbands, partners and even brothers. In addition, women were murdered in Israel as a result of fights between warring gangs. The government has to pay attention to the plight of women in society, even if a war is raging. Women’s lives matter!”

Key Findings on Femicide in Israel in 2024
Femicide in Israel in 2024: In 2024, there were 20 cases of femicide, namely 1.81 femicides each month, almost the same as in 2023. Currently, half of the victims were Israeli Arabs (including Druze and Bedouin), who represent 21% of the general Israeli population.

Femicide is defined in the literature as the intentional killing of women because they are female. This definition includes so-called "honor killing", matricide and murder committed by a partner or family member. In the data presented in this report, the murder of women as a result of terrorism, national conflict, accidents, or negligence is not included.

Ethnicity of the Victim and the Murderer: Half of the murdered women were Israeli Arabs (including Bedouin). One victim belonged to the Druze community. Eight victims were Jewish (40%,) and two women had foreign citizenship. The ethnicity of the murderer was the same as the victim in every case, except for the two foreign women.

Relation of Victim and Perpetrator: In the vast majority of cases the victim knew the murderer/suspect and in half of the cases the murderer was her husband. In other cases, the suspects were family members: brothers or sons. In 9 cases (45%) of femicide, the murderers confessed to their crime or were indicted by the criminal system. In all other cases, the murders have been censored by law, or the identity of the murderer is unknown.

Age: The average age of the victim was 40. The youngest victim was 24, and the oldest was 72. The average age of the suspect/murderer is 42; the youngest is 19 and the oldest is 83.

Weapon: 8 victims (40%) were stabbed to death, while in only 2 cases (10%) women were shot by gunfire. The rest of the cases, some of them still under investigation, included strangulation, hammer, burning of the victim or running her over with a car. In most cases, the victim was found with clear signs of violence on her body.

Recourse to Authorities: In only four cases did the victim complain to the police or other institutions about domestic violence prior to her murder. In other cases, the murderer was known to the authorities, had a criminal record, or suffered from mental illness.

The Murder of Women in the Arabic Sector, as Part of Underworld Struggles: Due to the publicity in the Israeli media, for the first time, the IOF reports on women's murders that are not defined as femicide. The murders are not "honor killing", but there is a probability that the female victims were targeted since they were an "asset" or the “property” of men from underworld gangs in the Arab sector.

In recent years, there has been a sharp rise in violence in Israeli Arab society (although to date, the same number of murders have been perpetrated in the Arab sector as last year). Most of the victims are men, while only a small percentage of women are killed in comparison. According to "Abraham Initiatives", as of today, 213 Arabs have been murdered since the beginning of the year. 18 were women (including a 10-year-old girl) present 8.45% out of all cases.

According to IOF data, in total 37 women over the age of 18 were murdered so far in 2024, 19 of whom were Israeli Arabs. 10 of the cases were defined as femicide and 9 others were murdered in underworld struggles, mostly by gunshot. Most of the victims of underworld struggles were Bedouin women. In some cases, the identity of the murderer is unknown, because the victim was killed by hired assassins, a grenade, or a stray bullet.

Comparison with Police Records:
There is a gap of 22% between police records and the data collected by the IOF in 2024. According to the police records, submitted to the IOF on the 13 of November 2024 thanks to the “Freedom of Information Law”, there were 29 murder cases of women in Israel (in contrast to 37 cases documented by the IOF). According to the police, out of these 29 victims, 9 are Jewish, 18 are Arab, and 2 are foreign. Indictments have been served until now in 5 (out of 9) cases of Jewish women, 3 (out of 18) Arab women, and 2 foreign women. It is important to note that many more cases in Arab society are still open without indictments: 17% of all cases have been investigated in the case of murdered women in the Arab sector, in comparison to 56% when the victim was Jewish.

The Israel Observatory on Femicide (IOF) (www.israelfemicide.org) which was established in November 2020 at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, documents and updates yearly the murder of women above the age of 18 in Israel. The IOF aims to be Israel’s most reliable source of data, providing quantitative and qualitative findings on femicide. It endeavours to analyze the data objectively, devoid of political or other interests. The data is gathered from daily local and national reports, using Google alerts, and cross-checked with other sources, including police reports, and interviews with lawyers and victims' families.

The IOF also publishes articles and books, and initiates projects related to women's murder. It publishes an annual report at the end of every calendar year in English, Hebrew, and Arabic. In addition, the IOF releases this report now, in line with the UN instructions to all national Observatories to update data before November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.

To learn more visit the official website at https://en.israelfemicide.org or reach out to
Prof. Weil at +972-2523553

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