The Knesset plenum voted on Wednesday to create a special committee to fight the alarming increase of incidents of women being murdered by their husbands and partners.
Femicide has claimed the lives of 17 Israeli women in 2019. Eleven women have been murdered since the beginning of 2020.
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Welfare groups estimate that there are about 200,000 battered women in Israel, entangling more than one million women, children, and men in the cycle of domestic violence.
The coronavirus crisis, which saw major restrictions on movement, nationwide lockdowns, and a surge in jobless claims, has brought about an uptick in domestic violence. The Israel Police reported a 40% increase in domestic violence complaints, and nine women have been murdered by their spouses since the measures were announced in mid-March.
Meretz MK Tamar Zandberg had proposed forming a parliamentary commission of inquiry on the phenomenon, but the coalition objected, voting in the formation of a subcommittee on femicide, which will operate under the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality.
"This was a small victory on the long path toward ending the shocking phenomenon of murdering women," Zandberg said.
