Cable car crash survivor boy cannot stay in Israel, court rules
Eitan Biran, 6, was the sole survivor of the accident and is now at the centre of an international custody dispute
Michael Daventry is Jewish News’s foreign and broadcast editor
A six-year-old Israeli boy at the centre of a bitter custody battle must be returned to his paternal aunt in Italy within a fortnight, an Israeli appeals court has ruled.
Judges upheld an earlier ruling that Eitan Biran, the sole survivor of a horrific accident on an Italian mountain cable car in May, had his “regular residence” in Italy.
Eitan became the focus of a cross-border custody battle after his paternal aunt accused his maternal grandfather Shmuel Peleg of abducting him to Israel.
A Tel Aviv family court agreed last month, dismissing the grandparents’ argument that Israel could be considered Eitan’s home.
The appeals court ruling, which was issued late on Thursday, came after an Italian court issued an international arrest warrant for Peleg.
Peleg has defended his decision to whisk Eitan to Switzerland in a car, without the other relatives’ knowledge, before taking him on board a private jet to Israel.
Both of Eitan’s parents were killed in the accident near Lake Maggiore in May, along with his great-grandparents and two-year-old brother.
Eitan suffered severe injuries including multiple broken bones but appears to have survived because of his father, who cushioned his fall.
He left hospital several weeks later and was put by Italian authorities into the care of his paternal aunt Aya Biran-Nirko.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
