Israeli court orders return of 6-year-old taken by his mother to Israel from Italy

An Israeli court has ordered the return of a 6-year-old boy to his father in Italy, rejecting an appeal by his mother. The mother had wrongfully taken the child to Israel without the father's consent. The couple had met in 2019, and the child was born in Israel in 2020 after the woman became pregnant. In December 2024, the family moved back to Italy, but in January, the mother returned to Israel alone with the child.

The father, an Italian citizen, filed a lawsuit demanding the child's return under the Hague Convention Law. The mother claimed she had fled to Israel due to severe abuse by her partner, stating that he brutally attacked her on Christmas Eve, causing her to hit her head on a wall and break her teeth. However, the father provided a different account, saying the woman fell due to intoxication and attributing her dental damage to gum disease and neglect.

The Family Court accepted the father's lawsuit, finding that the mother had weakly and without any evidence accused her partner of violence. The court concluded that returning the child to his father would not put him in danger. The mother appealed to the District Court, arguing that the ruling would expose her son to ongoing physical violence.

The court upheld the Family Court's decision, finding the case to be a clear example of abduction and ordering the mother to return the child to Italy. The father will cover the mother and child's expenses in Italy, and he must pay child support totaling 2,000 euros. The mother was also ordered to pay 20,000 shekels in legal costs.