Domestic Abuse ‘Like Terrorism’ - Karmiel Mayor

Karmiel Mayor Moshe Koninsky has equated domestic violence with terrorism.

 

 

The courts should impose maximum sentences on violent spouses, he told a large mixed crowd of vociferous citizens at Tuesday’s ‘Enough of Violence Against Women’ protest rally.

Koninsky, accompanied by his wife, Suzi, a lawyer, had called the emergency protest outside the Israeli city’s Lev Karmiel shopping mall, following an alleged brutal attack on a former Karmiel resident by her husband.

He said later that after leaving the protest he had spoken to the victim’s local relatives pledging all possible support.

“It's time for the courts and police to stop being forgiving! Enough violence against women! No more!”, he said.

There were two similar major protests in Tel Aviv earlier this summer and it has been reported that due to coronavirus pandemic regulations, complaints of domestic violence soared by a dramatic 112% in only one month between April and May.

· In October 2018, Mr Koninsky’s predecessor, Adi Eldar led a similar protest following a murder in the seaside town of Netanya in which a husband killed his wife in front of their three children.

· Two months later, soon after he assumed office, Mr Koninsky helped to host an indoor rally at the town hall auditorium against apparent government indifference to violence against women throughout Israeli society.

© Natalie Wood (23 September 2020)