Pregnant Woman Shot Dead by Ex-Husband in Jerusalem Parking Lot
An Israeli woman was shot and killed by her ex-husband in a Jerusalem parking lot in what police are investigating as a murder and attempted suicide. The woman, identified as a pregnant 25-year-old, was with her current husband when she was fatally shot. The attacker, who then shot himself, is in critical condition.
The incident occurred in the Gilo neighborhood of Jerusalem. According to initial police investigations, the attacker, in his late twenties, was a security guard who carried a licensed handgun as part of his profession. Emergency medical services rushed both individuals to the hospital, but doctors at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital pronounced the woman dead after prolonged resuscitation efforts.
The victim, who worked in a kindergarten and had recently remarried, was reportedly pregnant. Her family said the divorce from her ex-husband was not contentious, and the couple was not known to police for domestic violence. Nevertheless, the murder of a pregnant woman by her ex-husband, in front of her new partner, has sent shockwaves through the community.
Growing Epidemic of Domestic Violence
The tragedy is being described by women's rights organizations as another example of the growing epidemic of violence against women in Israel. The CEO of the "No to Violence Against Women" organization, Vardit Danziger, said the murder is further evidence of an "unbearable reality" where domestic violence is on the rise. "War on the homefront is turning into war inside the home," she said. Danziger added that the ongoing security crisis and stress are aggravating factors that increase the risk of violence.
The Israel Women's Network released a statement calling the crime a "double murder," for both the mother and her unborn child. They noted that she is the 28th victim of gender-based violence in Israel this year, and demanded that the Ministry of National Security, which they say has failed to protect women from violence, take immediate action.
This murder is the latest in a series of violent incidents and murder-suicides in Israel. In June, a man in Ashdot Yaakov shot and killed his estranged wife before killing himself. Shortly after, a woman in Modi'in allegedly killed her 13-year-old son before dying in a fire. Two and a half years ago, a similar case occurred on the same street in Gilo, when a man attempted to set his ex-wife on fire before getting into a fatal car accident.
