Israel Police's emergency call center received a phone call this week from an Israeli woman ordering a pizza. While this may sound like a very embarrassing case of dialing the wrong number, the woman had intended to call the police for help.
After conducting a screening of the situation, the dispatcher quickly realized that this woman was trying to get help from the police in a domestic violence situation.
The anonymous woman would have been unable to speak openly about her situation, and so she found a way to communicate her location without the abuser knowing. This dispatcher was able to find out the woman’s location, her perceived level of danger and some sensitive details about the situation.
The dispatcher called for a patrol unit from Ramle station to be sent to the woman’s location, where they arrived in minutes.
The police arrested the woman’s partner for threats of domestic violence, who was charged by the Central District’s Police Prosecution division on August 2. The division filed a severe indictment against the suspect during a court hearing.
The suspect was described as a Ramle resident in his 30s.
Domestic abuse in Israel
As the Jerusalem Post reported in February 2023, 24 women were murdered in femicide cases in Israel throughout 2022, averaging at two women murdered every month. This number is a 50% increase from the previous year.
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel found in a 2022 report that 75% of prisoners serving sentences for sexual violence were released from prison early. A further third were not required to participate in a rehabilitation program.