As for the aggravating circumstance set forth in section 301A(a)(7), that is, "the act was committed with special cruelty, or with physical or mental abuse of the victim."
It should be recalled that the many severe stabbings by two people were all carried out in front of the deceased's wife. When she saw him stabbed to death, his wife stood screaming and screaming at the murderers of a woman. She shouted, "Kill me, not him." In view of the actual physical closeness between the deceased and his wife at the time of the stabbings, it can be assumed that he was aware that his wife was witnessing what was happening. However, it is possible that after a few stabbings his consciousness became foggy, and he may have lost consciousness. In this context, it was ruled in Criminal Appeal 1213/23 Elaza v. State of Israel (April 7, 2025):
"[...] It should not be based on a technical examination regarding the presence of the victim's family members at the scene. It is necessary to examine substantially how this presence affected the occurrence of the murder and whether the victim of the offense suffered excessive suffering as a result.
In the case before us, the victim's children, and especially the minor, were part of the occurrence itself. The minor, a skinny young man, struggled with his father with his meager strength and tried to stop his mother's violent attack. So much so that he himself was injured by the knife his father had brandished at his mother. He tried to get his father to stop his actions, with cries and desperate actions - but in vain. This arises explicitly from the minor's statements given to the police (for example: P/20) and from the neighbor's statement, who also stated that she saw the minor holding the appellant and imploring him to cease his actions (P/23). The appellant, with his diabolical determination, did not stop his actions and stabbed his wife to death in front of their children.
In these unique circumstances, this is not a case of a passive "presence" of the minors at the scene of the murder. Their involvement is significant, and all this is in front of the eyes of his (deceased) wife, who is fighting for her life and is aware of what is happening around her. It is the combination of these circumstances that leads to the conclusion that the case before us does indeed embody special cruelty."