In 2022, 24 women were murdered because they were women. 2022 saw 24 cases of femicide, compared with 16 in 2021 (2 per month in 2022 compared to 1.3 in 2021)—a rise of 50%. Half of the women killed in 2022 were from the Arab/Palestinian sector, which makes up 21% of the total population in Israel. 12 murderers confessed; in the other cases, the killer’s identity has not yet been decided. In 58% of the cases, the suspect or murderer was the victim’s partner or ex-partner, and in the majority of cases the killer was a family member. For the first time, two femicides were carried out across ethnic lines, but not for nationalistic reasons. There were four cases of matricide, the killing of a mother by a son.

Prof. Shalva Weil of the Seymour Fox School of Education at the Hebrew University, who established the Israel Observatory on Femicide, said: “After a decrease in 2021, this year there is a significant rise in the number of femicide cases in Israel in which a woman is killed because of her gender. We must stop the violence and eradicate this frightening trend.”

The report also found that:

• The victim’s age was 38.1. The youngest victim was 14, and the oldest 68. The average age of the suspect/murderer suspects is 39; the youngest is 19 and the oldest is 65.
• 38% of the victims were stabbed to death, and 25% were shot with gunfire. The rest of the cases involved the use of an explosive device and drowning, and in some as yet unsolved cases, hanging and the use of substances.
• In a third of cases, the suspect was known to the police or welfare authorities from previous violent incidents, or due to economic circumstances. In other cases, the murderer was known to have a criminal or mental health record.
• In 36% of cases, at least one child of the victim was present during the event.
• In two cases, the murderer committed suicide, and in five additional cases, the suspect or murderer attempted suicide.

Prof. Weil added: “It is an untenable situation that half of the femicide cases in Israel are in the Arab sector, but they only make up 21% of the total population. This rise may be associated with the general increase in violence in the Arab sector. According to the Abraham Initiatives, some 120 people were murdered in Israel in 2022; of these 12% were women. 12 of the 14 women were murdered by their partners or family members, while two women were killed by stray bullets. It should be pointed out that far less murder cases of Arab women are solved by the Israeli Police than femicides of Jewish Israeli victims”.