The children, two boys, were 2 and 1 years old respectively at the date of the alleged wrongful retention. The parents, both Israeli citizens, had spent a year in Paraguay (September 1998 to November 1999) as emissaries of the Israeli Foreign Office.
After returning to Israel, the father went to Venezuela in March 2001 for work purposes and after a few months the mother joined him there. The older child was born there in June 2002. In April 2003 the family moved to Paraguay for the father’s work and the younger son was born there in August 2003.
In August 2004 the mother took the children to Israel for a two month holiday. The father came after one month and during his visit disputes arose between the parents. The mother informed him that she did not intend to return to Paraguay and applied to the Court for Family Matters for custody and maintenance. The father returned to Paraguay leaving instructions with his lawyer to file a divorce petition.
Two weeks after returning to Paraguay the father submitted an application under the Hague Convention for return of the children. On 13 January 2005 the Tel-Aviv Court for Family Matters dismissed the application finding the children were habitually resident in Israel at the date of the alleged wrongful retention. The father appealed.
Menu
