Speaking ahead of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said, "Zero tolerance must be employed against violence."
During the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, ministers approved a plan to grant aid to citizens affected by criminal activity, which the prime minister called, "Internal terror."
The plan was presented by Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog, after he reached an agreement with the finance minister and the budget department, with the prime minister's support.
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According to the understandings reached, the full implementation of the plan will take place over the span of three years, with an annual budget of NIS 18.5 million ($4.85 million) once the plan is fully in effect.
The plan is meant to aid families of people not involved in criminal activity who are killed or murdered in violent acts. The authority to determine whether a family is eligible for such aid will be given to an inter-ministry committee, which will include a representative from the Internal Security Ministry.
The families deemed eligible will first get an "immediate aid package" which will include a small sum of money to cover the expenses related to the death and help get the family back on track. The Welfare and Social Services Ministry has recommended a sum of NIS 10,000 ($2,600), but a final sum has yet to be determined.
At the start of the meeting Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch presented the government with data on domestic violence. According to the numbers, there has been a drop in domestic violence against women this year, but the situation remains worrisome.
He said that so far this year six women have been murdered in cases of domestic violence, while last year the number was 11. Aharonovitch added that 15,000 police records have been filed against domestically violent men by their partners, a decline from last year's 19,703.
A demographic breakdown of the numbers shows that 24% of the cases of women killed in domestic violence were new immigrants. Women from the former Soviet republics followed with 18.9%.
Murder of women in the Arab sector made up 11.8% of deaths from domestic violence, and the murder of Ethiopian immigrants made up 2.3% of the deaths this past year.
More concerning data presented by the minister includes the fact that 22% of men in Israel believe it is their right to force their partners to have sex with them at any time and that one in 10 women in Israel suffer from domestic violence. Sixty percent of battered woman were raised in houses with domestic violence.
During the meeting, Aharonovitch announced the formation of a special division to deal with violence against women, which is made up of some 200 trained investigators, including nine female investigators in the Arab sector.
In addition, special classes in the matter have been developed including lectures by therapists, targeting immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.
The minister stressed that, despite the encouraging data, he plans to act full force against the phenomenon.
"Despite the numbers that show a decline in the number of murder cases and in the amount of records filed, we must remember to keep acting on every possible level of enforcement, prevention, education and collaboration with the welfare services, in order minimize this dreadful phenomenon," Aharonovitch said.
Ronen Medzini contributed to this report
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