Not everyone feels safe with Ben Gvir's statements that he wants to see "more weapons on the streets", from the cabinet's decision to speed up the granting of gun licenses to citizens and the police's calls for license holders to carry weapons on them.
The women's organizations, the families of the women who were murdered and those who were injured by firearms in their homes, warn of the danger that can reach every home: "The epidemic of female homicide may grow even more."
Nine women were murdered by firearms in their pavilion in the last three years;
In the previous years, 12 more women were murdered under similar circumstances - this is according to data presented by the women's lobby in the Committee for the Advancement of the Status of Women.
Some of the women who were injured and the families of those who were murdered, agreed to break their silence in protest of the government's measures, against the background of the recent attacks and the security tensions.
In September 2021, Rachel Eisenstadt was murdered by her partner, Guy Shapira.
He strangled her, faked her suicide and finally tried to commit suicide with the weapon he had.
Rachel's daughter, Ariel Bar, warns of the violence that could break out and strongly opposes easing the granting of gun licenses.
"Guy is a quiet person, we didn't think he was a violent person. It caught us by complete surprise, it came out of nowhere, there was no sign or threat," said Ariel.
"In the two days before the murder, they had an argument and he asked for a divorce," said the murdered woman's daughter.
"She asked him for the weapon, because she probably understood that the situation could get heated in an instant, but he refused."
"Who will pay the price?".
Rachel Eisenstedt's family (photo: Roni Knafo)
According to Ariel, for a day the police did not take the weapon from Guy.
"They left him with us, along with his weapon, because they believed him," she said.
"In the end he escaped, and after the police caught him he tried to commit suicide with him. He may have had a financial motive, but I can't understand what he wanted or why he did it, we didn't think he was dangerous."
Ariel's stomach is full of the cabinet's decision and the emirates in the government.
"Even today the criteria for receiving weapons are very lenient, and now they want to distribute more weapons," she said angrily.
"Who will pay this price? Innocent people. We need to toughen the conditions and not ease them," she read.
"We are dealing with an epidemic of femicide, now it could even grow more."
Rachel's daughter continued, "I am not a security woman, but we must understand that in most cases not every citizen can neutralize a terrorist even if he is carrying a weapon. This decision is irresponsible and will not solve the problem," she said.
"In front of the terrorists, deterrence and punishment should be increased, the number of police officers should be increased, from the licensing side, a psychiatric evaluation should be done for everyone and that the applicant's medical history be open."
She concluded, "There is something to be done to balance the needs, the decision they made is not the solution."
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A., a young woman from a religious settlement in Samaria, experienced severe physical violence from her husband, who received a gun license like many residents who live in tense areas in the settlements.
"We were married for four years, the violence started a year and a half after we got married," said A.
"In the beginning it was verbal violence, then it escalated to physical violence. The violence reached its peak two months after the birth."
"Most of the time the weapon was not part of the violent events, but in the last event, on the evening of Independence Day, an argument arose between us about what we would do in the evening - and then it got really violent," she repeated.
"He threw me on the refrigerator, I came out with painful blows. Suddenly he saw his weapon, he broke it and pointed it at me. At that moment my body froze, until that moment I didn't think he could use a weapon against me despite all the severe violence, apparently it's a type of denial on my part".
"I was completely helpless," A continued, "I felt that he had mental power over me, not just physical. I felt that I was a terrible mother who was putting her daughter at risk and a bad wife to myself. Nevertheless, I continued to be with him. A week later, on Friday, It happened again, so he picked up the weapon again but did not use it. Even though Shabbat was about to enter, at that moment I took the girl, ran away to my parents and never came back," she said.
"Today I understand that if it hadn't happened, I don't think I would have gone. I probably would have had to risk my life in order to get up and go."
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"He used weapons as manipulation."
Illustration (photo: ShutterStock)
A. concluded, "Looking back, I understand that he used the weapon as manipulation, to feel strong. He didn't let go of it, didn't put it in the safe and didn't hide it, even when he was at home it was on him and I felt that it gave him security."
She pointed out that her husband had a license from the state, "but if they had checked in depth, they would have seen that he also attempted suicide in the army and that is why they released him. When he wanted to get a license to carry a weapon, he was afraid that they wouldn't give it to him because of that, in the end they gave him a two-minute interview and approved For him to carry a weapon. What is this license based on? It is possible to destroy a person's life," states A.
Said Teli, director of the field of domestic violence treatment and firearms supervisor at the Ministry of Welfare and Social Security, emphasizes that in marital crises, possession of a weapon may increase the level of risk.
"Fights between spouses are much more emotional and in the private space each person feels freer to exaggerate their behaviors,
"We are already aware of several difficult cases with people in security positions or the security forces, who held weapons licenses," Said said.
"We need to balance the security in the public space and the consequences for harming the private space. We must not flex the criteria too much, because we do not want to protect the outside but harm the inside," he said.
"Want more weapons on the streets."
Ben Gabir (Photo: Reuven Castro)
Said Tali (photo: courtesy of the family)
Said testified that the decision "worries him a lot."
He explained, "I know that weapons in the home may be aimed at family members. When the convictions for possessing weapons are expanded - it can end up in the wrong hands. I'm afraid that the criteria will be so lenient that it will end up in really dangerous situations."
He continued, "There are cases that come to us in which the spouse who owns a weapon endangers the wife, and we can recommend revoking his license and taking it from him so that he does not endanger his wife. The police can also revoke the license as soon as they know there is danger, but we cannot prevent Everything, especially if the weapon will be more common."
For women who feel threatened, Said suggests contacting the welfare authorities.
"The sense of insecurity of the women who know that their partners have weapons at home is particularly difficult," he concluded.
Lera Zinman, chairwoman of the Murdered and Murdered Families organization, sharpens the tone. "We see the encouragement of the public to receive firearms as a threat to the increase of civil terrorism in the domestic and public space," she said. And strict tests, how can we trust the superficial tests in getting a license for a private weapon?"
He called for speeding up the granting of gun licenses.
Netanyahu (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)
She claims, "In the health declaration form it is possible to hide information about private psychiatric treatment that does not appear in the medical file at the health fund. Many times a psychiatric background or a background of violent behavior was discovered among security guards who murdered their partners. There have been massacres of entire families, including the suicide of the perpetrators of the massacre The families were wiped out. The remaining family members found it difficult to continue their lives. In shootings, it is easy to kill victims who happened to be near the victim who was the target of the shooting."
The chairman of the organization called on the decision-makers to "stop this dangerous campaign and instead tighten the criteria for obtaining private weapons and restore the procedure of keeping weapons from security guards in safes at their place of work during off-duty hours."
Demonstration against violence against women (photo: surfer photos, Keren Lehmann)
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Hadas Danieli Yelin, CEO of the women's lobby, said that "for tens of thousands of women and children, the easing of gun licenses does not provide a sense of security, but the opposite.
Just before making life-threatening statements, it should be remembered that the granting of easements for the possession of weapons threatens thousands of women and children who live under violence in their homes."
She claimed, "The presence of firearms in the home makes these women live in a constant sense of danger, and makes it difficult to get out of the cycle of violence.
The citizens of the State of Israel should feel safe wherever they are, even at home." According to her, the solution to violence and security problems is "strengthening the security forces and especially the police, and not flooding the country with more and more weapons.
We call on the ministers of the government to make well-considered decisions and also see those women and children who are in the cycle of violence, before they relax the criteria for carrying weapons."
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