Police arrested a 25-year-old man on suspicion of murdering his 18-year-old partner at their Beersheba apartment in the early hours of Saturday morning.

The suspect has a criminal past and was previously accused of behaving violently toward a former partner, Ynet reported. He was also arrested for using violence toward the victim several months ago after she lodged a complaint with police that he had choked her.

Relatives of the woman said her death could have been avoided and blamed police and the legal system for failing to prevent the tragedy. The police “ignored previous violent incidents,” one relative said.

“There is an open case against [the suspect] at the police station in Beersheba from the last few months, and additional violent incidents [have been registered] in Netanya, many of them [for violence] toward his partner,” added the relative.

“We all knew this would end badly,” said the woman’s sister. “We all tried to do everything we could but she thought it would be okay and that he would change.”

A road sign near Eilat points in different directions. Is the car coming from Beersheba or Be’er Sheva? (credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
A road sign near Eilat points in different directions. Is the car coming from Beersheba or Be’er Sheva? (credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
“The writing was on the wall,”  said Hagit Peer, chairwoman of the Na’amat Israeli and international women's organization. “This is a terrible tragedy. From the details, it appears that the suspect was released recently after previously attacking the woman who was murdered.

“This case obliges all authorities – the police and welfare and social services – to examine if there were points in time when their intervention could have prevented this terrible outcome.”