A man identifying as the ex-husband of a female political figure turned to the public through Facebook in a request for help after, he asserted, the aforesaid political figure took their two daughters to Russia without receiving his permission, as is mandated by law.
“I’m pretty emotional right now,” the man, a medical researcher by trade, wrote, in a post close to the beginning of Shabbat [Friday night].
He related how he is the father of two 7.5 year-old daughters. A month ago, he said, his ex-wife requested his permission – via court – that she take their daughters outside of Israel for a certain period.
“I refused, and I gave my explanations to the court,” he said. Three weeks later, he said, he received a notice that a judge had ruled that his children could receive passports, though it didn’t say that she had allowed the girls to leave Israel.
“A week later, I get an additional request from my ex-wife’s lawyer which didn’t address any of the points that I had handed over in my defense, not one point that I had emphasized…neither from the judge nor from my ex-wife’s lawyer,” he continued.
“An hour ago, I get a letter from my ex-wife’s lawyer, that the girls have received permission to leave Israel as per the decision of another female judge on shift at the time. And, by chance, I discover that my daughters are outside of Israel. All this happens two hours before Shabbat.
Until now, I still do not know what the judge decided,” the fuming father wrote.
“I feel like I don’t have any rights,” he said. In his words, due to certain details of his ex-wife’s biography and her current position, he fears for the security of his daughters.
It will be remembered that taking minors outside of the country requires the permission of both parents, the legal guardians of the children according to Israeli law.
In a well-known incident in 2001, Marina Balfer, the ex-wife of Yaron Rotem, kidnapped their daughter, Lilach. Balfer flew with Lilach to Russia, after she received permission from Justice Gershon Garman – without notifying Rotem and giving him an opportunity to oppose, as required by law.
Balfer’s mother stood trial, after she visited Israel, and was imprisoned for her part in the kidnapping. She won a plea bargain between the sides, which included a visit by Rotem to his daughter in Russia, after they had not seen each other for nine years.
