Christian Father complains: "they will brainwash the child"

Christian father of the M., disappeared five years ago - when he was 9, suggesting that the disappearance is part of a planned intention to remove him from his son, and that the child is held in an Orthodox home without contact with the outside world. This week, as reported in B'Chadrei Charedim, the mother was convicted of kidnapping - but the man still has no idea where the boy is.

M.'s father 45 is a Christian who lives in Brussels, Belgium. This week, in an interview with the weekend magazine on Mako, he says that he almost cannot sleep at night, counting the minutes until morning, so he could call and ask the attorney in Israel if they already found his son, "It's very difficult to sleep with thoughts of what is happening to him and the place he is held in. I try to suppress bad scenarios so I can survive and endure.

"The last time I saw him I knew something was going to happen. Something in heart told me something is going to happen. Since his mother kidnapped him to Israel - I saw him a total of five times, and each time he is becoming more and more religious, became someone else. At the first meeting he hugged and kissed me, but the third meeting he had refused to speak to me in French but only in Hebrew."

"The last time I saw him he looked completely Orthodox, black clothes, white shirt and big tzitzis underneath. He was talking about that they had to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque and would not even shake my hand. He said he will always remember me as his father, but now he is different, clean, and I am not like that. I felt I was losing him."

"There are some difficult days that I feel discouraged, and sometimes I think I will never see my son, but I always try to quickly think of something optimistic to hope that it might be a good ending to this story and I and my son will meet," says F. "My fear is his mental situation and that they are brainwashing him, but I hope for the best. Currently, there is no other choice."

The couple - Belgian citizen and an Israeli woman, met in the '90s. The two were married, and a year later their son was born. When he was three, they decided to divorce. The couple began a legal battle for custody of their only son. A Belgium court ruled that the mother will receive custody of the child, and she went to live with the child in France.

Later the appeals court changed the decision and ruled that the child will live with his father. In response, the mother argued that the child's uncle affected the decision due to his position at the Belgian Ministry of Justice, and therefore went to court in France where she demanded custody of her son. Even before the ruling, she left with her son to Israel. Sometime later, a French court rejected the claim.

The mother claimed that the child is used to an Orthodox lifestyle and therefore his stay with his Christian father will harm and cause him suffering. On the other hand, the father met with various experts and psychologists, and promised that he will allow the child to continue to maintain a Jewish - Orthodox lifestyle, and send him to study at ultra-Orthodox institutions in Belgium. The father filed a lawsuit in Israel, according to the Hague Convention, which requires the return of 'kidnapped' children from the parent who received custody. The claim was discussed in all legal forums in Israel, until in 2008 the Supreme Court ruled that the child should be returned to his father.

In June 2008 the mother was supposed to return the child to Belgium, but argued that the child disappeared from her home and she has no information on his whereabouts, and she is not in touch with him. Consequently, the Christian father opened criminal proceedings against her and turned back to the Supreme Court to force her to return the child, and also accused of contempt of court. Judge Eliakim Rubinstein received the request and determined that the mother will pay 700 shekels for every day she is delaying the execution of the judgment.

An indictment was charged against for removing the child from custody, from which she was credited, however, she was doomed to a year in prison, for violating the Supreme's decision to return her son to his father. The mother did not pay the fine imposed on her, and since her debt was more than 130 thousand shekels, the father sought to impose more severe sanctions. A year ago, the judges sentenced the mother to 30 days in detention because she did not cooperate with the state.

Last week, the Supreme Court rejected the mother's appeal and convicted the mother of two counts of which she was acquitted in the District.

"I am afraid the charedim will harm him"

"I was at home, talking on the phone, and there was a knock on the door," R. said to the police, Mako displayed the kidnapping. "I told the kid not to open, but when I got up I saw that he was no longer there. I was terribly afraid, I was stressed. I went out to the street below and saw that he was not there. I went home, and then the phone rang from a withheld number. I heard his voice and he said, 'Mommy, do not worry, the good people always win, and he hung up., and that's it, I never heard from him. The following day I went to the police station in Ofakim to tell them about his disappearance and then they questioned me and I was arrested."

With her arrest, R. introduced to the police a different version, stating that "the boy went out to play in the yard and suddenly disappeared." Only when the police investigation continued did she add the story of the doorbell. When the investigators wanted to find out if she has no idea where her son is since he disappeared, she said flatly: "I never kidnapped him; I have no idea where he was. I worry about him, but I am sure he is being treated properly. On the same day he disappeared, he went for a walk outdoors and I never saw him again. I have no idea where he is."
Investigator: How do you know he is being treated properly if you claim you do not know where he is?

R: "It's my heart; a mother's heart feels everything. I do not know where he is. He is in danger."

Investigator: Do you want to tell us where you hid the child?

R: "I want to remain silent. I believe with all my heart and soul that my child would be in danger if they sent him from Israel to his father in Belgium."

"I'm afraid something will happen to him, that the charedim will hurt him, but I try not to think about it," says his father. "Every day that passes is very difficult for me without him, and my parents and family are trying to support and help. I will turn over worlds and do everything to find my son, no matter how long it takes. I will not give up."

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!