The coalition will advance a bill proposed by the previous government that will enable courts to order domestic abusers to wear electronic tracking bracelets in order to better protect their victims, the cabinet decided at its weekly meeting on Sunday.
The cabinet's decision was to apply a continuation clause to the bill which passed its first reading on the Knesset floor in 2022 but did not proceed further. This means that the Knesset may now pick up the legislative process from where it was left off, instead of having to launch the process from the beginning.
The bill has been a source of controversy in recent months, as the opposition criticized National Security Minister MK Itamar Ben-Gvir for delaying the bill and for proposing changes to unnecessarily raise the criteria to enable the court to order an electronic tracking device, which would leave more women in danger of suffering from repeat domestic abusers.
The decision included a number of changes to original bill
The decision that passed on Sunday included a number of changes to the original bill, including one that requires that the domestic abuser have a prior conviction or violation of a restraining order in order to apply the bracelet. Another change is that precondition for applying the bracelet is that the abuser undergoes an examination to evaluate the level of danger he poses.
However, the current version still allows the court to order an electronic bracelet for seven days without the preconditions mentioned above, if it believes that the abuser constitutes an immediate threat to his family.
"The amended law proposal that was approved today in the cabinet is especially important, and will balance the crucial need to fight and prevent domestic violence, and our duty to reject false claims and accusations and maintain the liberty of innocent people," Ben-Gvir said in a statement.
"As opposed to the previous government which did not bring the bill to completion, this government will do so – but will bring a more precise and better bill," Ben-Gvir said.
Hadas Danieli-Yelin, CEO of the Women's Lobby, praised the decision, calling it a "giant achievement" in the lobby's "determined struggle in the last months."
"After a difficult year with a steep increase in femicide, this bill proposal brings with it an important message to those women who live with a fear of death in their own homes," Danieli-Yelin said, adding that her organization would continue to come to the Knesset and attend every discussion in order to ensure that there would be no more "feet-dragging" or changes that will "reduce the bill's effectiveness in granting maximum protection to women."