Police officer suspected of murdering 32-year-old wife

A 32-year-old woman was found dead in her home in Naale in the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council on Friday. Her husband, a police officer, was suspected of shooting his wife with his licensed gun and was consequently arrested by police. The name of the victim was Diana Raz. She was a couples’ mentor, according to Ynet.Magen David Adom reported that when the medics had been called to treat the victim, they were forced to declare her death.After allegedly killing his wife, the police officer had called his commanding officer and told him of his actions.While some Israeli media reports claim that the four children of the couple – who were witnesses to the murder – were transferred to the father of the alleged murderer, other sources claim that they were taken by welfare services.The officer was investigated by the Police Investigation Department and admitted he committed the murder during the investigation, according to N12. “We had a pointless argument and I don’t know what got into my head,” said the suspect, according to N12. “The argument led to yelling and I can’t explain it. I drew my gun and fired twice. One hit her in the head. Then I called emergency services and asked them to come.”

“I heard four gunshots and I understood that it is not from the nearby village,” a neighbor of the couple told Haaretz. “Then my husband was called over, and we understood. We knew that there were problems between the couple. They were always fighting, but we never thought that it would reach this point.”Another neighbor, however, told N12 that the couple had never been too loud or had public issues in their relationship.The alleged murderer called his mother before the incident, Ynet claims, and asked her to take the four children into her care.

Violence against women sky-rocketed in Israel in the past year during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 alone, two women were murdered in acts of domestic violence so far.Some 25 women were murdered in acts of domestic abuse in 2020.The government agreed in 2017 to create a domestic violence prevention program with a budget of NIS 250 million. However, by the end of 2020, only NIS 50 million had been transferred towards the program. Such a program could be a lifesaver for women and children alike throughout the country.

 
“Israel Police is obligated to comprehensively inquire how someone who is supposed to protect the lives of citizens with his weapon allegedly turns it upon his wife,” said the Jewish Women’s Organization Supporting Israel (Na’amat) CEO Hagit Pe’er. “Every murder requires an in-depth investigation but in a situation in which a police officer carries his weapon, whether it is not a system failure must be investigated, as well as whether there were preliminary signs that could have set off alarms.”As photographs from social media began surfacing of Raz, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid tweeted, “I see the smile in the photograph of Diana Raz… and think of the four children that will need to live with the horrible knowledge that their father murdered their mother. 25 women were murdered last year; that’s an incomprehensible number. We must stop violence against women. We must. It is possible.”