Court: Woman must return daughter to United Kingdom

JERUSALEM, March 27 (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court has ordered an Israeli woman to return her child to England. She had come to the Jewish state with her daughter after leaving her non-Jewish husband — the child’s father — in the United Kingdom. In a precedent-setting ruling, the court this week said that the child, who was born in England, was effectively kidnapped. The court also said, however, that the father was not a suitable parent. According to the ruling, the mother has to return to England for a court to make a custody decision. The two had met on a kibbutz in Israel, moved to England, and were married in 1994. The woman told the court that her husband had abused her. The father had appealed to an Israeli court to order the return of the child, citing a Hague treaty on the kidnapping of children. The court said in its ruling that it had no choice but to order the return of the child.