At the age of six, Biran was the only survivor of a cable car accident in northern Italy in May and illegally brought to Israel from Italy by his Israeli grandfather.
The accident killed 14 people, including Eaton’s father Amit Biran; his mother, Tal Peleg; her one-year-old brother, Tom; and his great-grandfathers, Barbara Cohen Cohensky and Itshak Cohen.
The court found that Biran had a deeper connection and comfort with his Italian family and surroundings than with his Israeli family and surroundings.
In addition, the court held that Dada had violated the Hague Convention by removing Birn from Italy without a court decision.
Technically, grandparents can still seek custody through the Italian courts, but they are less likely after an Israeli court ruling.
Italian authorities had previously handed over custody of Eaton to his aunt Aya, who is Amit’s sister and a doctor who lives with her family, including two daughters around Eaton’s age, in the suburbs of Pavia. is in. .
Eaton’s family moved to Pavia five years ago to allow Amit to study medicine.
The six-year-old was taken illegally to Israel by his grandfather Samuel Peleg in September. The boy’s relatives are struggling to get Biran back to Italy.
Soon after learning that the child was in Israel, Biran’s Aunt Aya filed a request in an Italian court, where an investigation was opened against Peleg for suspected kidnapping.
Peleg’s lawyers in Italy have admitted that he took the boy to Israel, saying he “acted on impulsiveness”, as he was worried about his grandson’s health after being removed from legal proceedings related to the boy’s custody. Was concerned. I was worried.
Israeli government officials have been cited as having a tendency to recommend that the issue be sent back to Italy to decide the issue of a permanent detention arrangement.
This will happen because the example of empowering the country is set from where the difficult situation started to resolve this issue.
Here, after the death of Eaton’s family, a custody dispute erupts and kidnappings take place across Italy.
On the other hand, in specific cases under the Hague Convention to determine the custody of minors, the fight is usually between the child’s parents, and there is often a clear answer as to which country is considered home.
In this case, Eaton grew up in Italy for most of his life, and there are indications that the parents planned to live there, at least for some time.
Yet their father brought the family to Italy to attend medical school, and there are indications that the family plans to return to Israel and raise their children in the Jewish state, if not for tragedy.
Peleg accused Aya of holding the child “hostage” and disregarding his Israeli and Jewish identity.
Meanwhile, Peleg hired well-known communications strategist Ronen Tzur, who had in the past been an adviser to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, and Aya hired Avi Himi, president of the Israel Bar Association.
The trial in Israel focused on the issue of whether legal precedents had emerged in light of the unique situation as well as whether Eton, culturally and linguistically, would feel more natural to spend the rest of his childhood in Italy versus Israel. .
In similar cases, each party in a family lawsuit often tries to prosecute in the country where they live, arguing that the judge of the local country is more likely to sympathize with its citizens and children. As opposed to sending with the cradle locally. The child has to be raised abroad.
“While we welcome Judge Ilotovich-Segal’s decision, we believe that there is no winner and no loser in this case, only Eaton,” said lawyers for the Biran family, lawyers Samuel Moran, Avi Chimi, Noah Gellerman. -Lyal, said Sharon-Hadas and Omri Dror after the Yifat Court’s decision. “All we’re asking now is that Eaton return to his home soon, to his friends at school, and to his family, and especially to the medical and educational infrastructure he desperately needs.”
Jerusalem Post employees contributed to this report.