Jerusalem man stabs wife to death, attempts to take own life

Suspect attacks police and paramedics, remains hospitalized in moderate condition.

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
Knife (illustrative) 370 (photo credit: Knife)
Knife (illustrative) 370
(photo credit: Knife)
A man in his late 60s from the Gilo neighborhood of east Jerusalem stabbed his wife to death following a domestic dispute in their apartment Sunday afternoon, attacked police and medical responders, and then attempted to take his own life, police said.
According to Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld, at approximately 1:30 p.m. the unidentified man called Magen David Adom asking for assistance after repeatedly stabbing his wife, also in her 60s, following a heated argument.
“He called MDA saying he stabbed his wife and they immediately contacted police who were dispatched to the scene as well,” said Rosenfeld a couple hours after the murder.
“When police and paramedics arrived at the scene the man repeatedly lunged at them and then repeatedly impaled himself with the murder weapon in an attempt to commit suicide,” he added.
While police subdued the man and prevented him from further self harm, Rosenfeld said the man’s wife, who was in critical condition, died at the scene. None of the officers or paramedics were injured during the attack, he said.
The suspect was subsequently taken to Shaare Zedek Medical Center where he remains in moderate condition.
Rosenfeld said he will be formally charged with his wife’s murder at Jerusalem Magistrate Court upon his release from the hospital.
The murder nearly coincides with Monday’s annual International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, which is being observed by the Jerusalem Municipality.
According to a report released last week by Women’s International Zionist Organization, approximately 200,000 Israeli women are victims of domestic violence.
The study revealed that over the past year 7,335 women were treated in 89 centers for domestic violence across the country.
This is the second domestic murder in the capital since September, when a mother stabbed her two small children to death in their Talpiot apartment and unsuccessfully attempted to take her own life.