27-year-old Arab-Israeli mother of four was shot dead in her Haifa apartment on Wednesday.
Meiser Ottman was reportedly killed in front of her children and a friend of hers, from whom the police gathered statements.
Since the beginning of the year, 41 Arab citizens have been murdered, of which eight were women, according to Abraham Initiatives. Twenty-five of those killed were under 30.
The woman’s ex-husband and her current partner each have criminal records, according to reports.
Police enlisted MDA medics and paramedics to assist the woman, but they had to pronounce her dead at the scene.
“We saw an unconscious woman with a penetrating injury to her body,” said MDA paramedic Ahmed Tuafshi. “We performed medical tests on her, she was without a pulse and wasn’t breathing and we had to pronounce her death on the spot.”
עדכון נתונים בעקבות הרצח בחיפה, מעמותת יוזמות אברהם :מתחילת השנה נרצחו 41 אזרחיות ואזרחים ערבים/ות בישראל בנסיבות הקשורות לאלימות ופשיעה, 9 ערבים שאינם אזרחים. מבין כלל הנרצחים, 8 הן נשים. ב-41 ממקרי הרצח, הרצח נעשה באמצעות כלי ירייה.25 מהנרצחים היו עד גיל 30. pic.twitter.com/eViEp9ivrq
— Jack khoury.جاك خوري (@KhJacki) June 30, 2021
Many are drawing conclusions about this case within the wider social context and are pointing to the failure of the government to properly address domestic violence.
WIZO Chairwoman Anita Friedman said the State Comptroller’s Report on domestic violence published on Wednesday explicated the neglect in this field.
“This is a clear indictment of all Israeli governments, each of which has a direct connection to the deficiencies surrounding the scourge of violence,” Friedman said. “The public may be shocked for a moment and then forget it the next moment, but the government is committed to taking action and every effort possible to rectify the serious shortcomings [shown] in the State Comptroller’s Report and ensure the safety of women and children victims of domestic violence.
“Violence is not a decree from heaven,” she added. “It is our duty not to give up and put the treatment of violence at the top of the priority of the ‘change’ government.”
The No2Violence Against Women organization also condemned the incident.
“Continued terrorism against women today claimed another victim – Meiser Ottman from Haifa – who was murdered today in front of her children,” said the association’s director-general, Vardit Danziger, noting its agenda will be to allocate the necessary funds for the implementation of the government program to end domestic violence.