Israel's Centres for the Prevention and Treatment of Domestic Violence — State Comptroller Audit of a 110-Centre Municipal Network (Cautionary Case)

Israel's Ministry of Welfare funds dedicated centres for the prevention and treatment of domestic violence, run within local authorities' social-service departments. They offer consultation, treatment for victims, perpetrators and children, community education and professional training; a government response to a UN questionnaire (2009) listed 70 centres, and by 2020 there were about 110.
The State Comptroller's 2021 local-government audit found significant gaps. In 2019 only 9,758 (38%) of 25,327 people identified as needing treatment were treated in 95 reporting centres (6,546 women, 2,458 men, 754 children). Of 110 centres, 62 operated in medium-to-high socio-economic Jewish localities, even though need per 1,000 residents rises as socio-economic level falls; designated budget per person in need was NIS 680 in low-status authorities versus NIS 1,480 in medium/high-status ones. Only NIS 128m of an estimated NIS 300m (43%) was actually allocated to the 2017–2020 National Plan. Waiting times reached three months in Lod.
For violent men, only about 4,000 of roughly 20,000 men in the circle of violence were treated in 2019 through the centres, probation, prison and rehabilitation services; treatment frameworks were few and discontinuous, and recruitment efforts weak. Local authorities reported only 4,266 of 8,641 treated families to avoid recording higher expenditure than income. Twenty-two centres' social workers received no ministry training in 2015–2019. The Comptroller recommended policies to raise men's participation, track dropout and design responses for ultra-Orthodox and Arab communities. No outcome or recidivism evaluation exists; the case is included as an evidence-based account of coverage and implementation limits.

Read the full analysis: https://library.mevaker.gov.il/sites/DigitalLibrary/Documents/2021/Shilton/EN/2021-Shilton-201-Domestic-Taktzir-EN.pdf