The English father and Israeli mother married in Israel and their son was born in 2003. The father was finding it difficult to make a living in Israel. He found work in England and so the parties decided to move to England for a trial period of two years. They arrived in England on 27 April 2007. They rented an apartment and bought a car and registered the child for a local Jewish school.
On 19 September 2007 the family returned to Israel for the Jewish holidays and stayed at the maternal grandparents’ home. During the visit, the maternal grandmother died and so the mother and child extended their stay until 1 November 2007 (after the 30 day mourning period). They then returned to England. On 26 February 2008 the mother brought the child back to Israel without the father’s knowledge or agreement.