Yafit Furian, 30, was identified on Thursday as the latest victim of a suspected domestic violence incident two days after her body was found covered in stab wounds laying in a Rehovot apartment that had been set on fire.
Furian’s husband is suspected of murdering her, though his name remains barred from publication. He was found unconscious alongside his wife in their burning apartment bedroom after what appeared to have been a suicide attempt. He remains hospitalized in serious condition but is slated to be questioned by police if he wakes up.
Furian, who worked as a secretary at an old age home, is survived by four children, three siblings and both of her parents. Her funeral was held on Thursday evening in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv.
“I apologize on behalf of all of us,” a friend said in her eulogy. “I hope that now you are in a good place. We are doing everything in our power to care for your children, your family.”
“This violence against women must stop,” Furian’s relative Ariel Brouchim said at the end of the funeral. “The state must intervene in this matter. We as a family will not be silent and will fight until there is justice.”
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Firefighters were called to the Furians’ home early Tuesday morning when she was found dead in her bedroom along with her husband, who was in critical condition.
Furian’s friend speaks at her funeral in Holon, central Israel, September 29, 2022. (Screen Capture/Kan)
The couple, four children and the suspect’s father were found in a blaze in their Rehovot home early Tuesday morning.
A firefighter at the scene said that the fire was concentrated in the couple’s bedroom, which was locked, and the mattress Furian was found on had been set ablaze, Ynet reported.
The couple’s four-year-old daughter was found outside of her parents’ room crying, and the suspect’s father had reportedly saved her and her infant sibling from the fire.
The Furians’ three children were reported as lightly injured after the incident.
Police and Fire investigators at the scene where a man is suspected of murdering his wife and then Setting Home ablaze in Rehovot, September 27, 2022. (Yossi Aloni/Flash90)
The couple had been married for nine years and was not known to social services. Police told the Walla news site that they had not been alerted to any previous instances of domestic violence involving the Furians.
Activists have long complained about violence against women in Israel, saying not enough is done to prevent domestic violence.
A study by the Hebrew University-based Israel Observatory on Femicide examining the first half of 2022 found a 71 percent increase in femicide relative to the same period last year — 12 deaths compared to seven.
In July, Prime Minister Yair Lapid addressed the scourge of violence against women, saying it was “a stain on the country and it cannot continue.”
Public Security Minister Omer Barlev weighed in on the issue Tuesday, saying, “Violence against women cuts across sectors, and combating it is one of my priorities. It is not always possible to identify in advance a home where a woman is under physical, mental or financial violence…But I am determined to continue turning over every stone in order to provide security to women whose lives are in danger,” Ynet reported.
