A 53-year-old woman from Yeruham was found dead on Monday morning after she was allegedly attacked by her husband.
After being found unconscious in her home, resuscitation operations were carried out, and Magen David Adom (MDA) paramedics were forced to determine her death.
Her husband, Scotty Newman, was arrested by police, which reported that he will be detained for one week for further questioning. He confessed to the murder citing jealousy, and "not having anything to do" as a result of being unemployed which resulted in frequent fights between the two, Kan reported.
It is suspected that during an argument between the couple, he strangled his wife to death. No other signs of violence were found on the body.
MDA paramedic Yigal Asaig, who arrived at the scene, said, "She was not breathing and without a pulse. We started resuscitation operations and after resuscitation attempts, we had to determine her death."
Tal Ohana, head of the Yeruham local council said on Monday, "We are shocked and hurt by the horrible and unnecessary death that happened tonight. Unfortunately, we received a chilling reminder that violence against women is a plague that refuses to disappear from the world. This epidemic has no vaccine, and only through a national emergency plan can we eradicate it.
"We will conduct an in-depth investigation to understand what more we could have done and how to prevent the next murder. We embrace the family members and relatives and will provide them with any assistance that may be required. This phenomenon must stop."
According to Ohana, the woman was new to Yeruham and the couple was not known to welfare services.
WIZO Chairperson Anita Friedman said, "The case indicates a long and bloody failure of the Israeli governments in dealing with violence against women, especially in light of the dramatic increase in violence since the beginning of the corona crisis - which requires new ways of dealing with families in the cycle of violence."
Hagit Peer, chair of the Movement of Working and Volunteering Women (Naamat), responded saying, "The elections are of much more interest to the government and the Knesset than the lives of hundreds of thousands of women living in the cycle of violence in Israel. Our politicians, from all parties, will spend billions on another election campaign but the plan to fight domestic violence that the government itself has approved they have not been able to budget since 2017.
"A new year has begun but the wave of terror against women continues and has not stopped. A neighbor or relative who suspects that a woman in his vicinity is subject to terror - do not hesitate to contact the professional bodies. It really saves lives."
In 2020, 21 women in Israel were murdered by their spouses.