In the dispute among relatives about custody of six-year-old Eitan, the only survivor of the cable car accident on Lake Maggiore in Italy, the boy’s grandfather wants to appeal against a court ruling in Tel Aviv on Monday. The family court had decided that the child should return to Italy. The boy lived there with his parents until the accident in May.
The boy’s maternal grandfather has one week to appeal against the judge’s decision. The boy, who lost both parents, his little brother and two great-grandparents in the accident in May, lived after the accident with his aunt on his father’s side and her family in the Lombard town of Pavia. At the beginning of September he was flown from there to Israel by his maternal grandfather in secret and contrary to a court order. The public prosecutor of the Italian city is now investigating Eitan’s grandparents and a third person for kidnapping.
The court in Tel Aviv decided on Monday that the grandfather had to pay for the legal costs, which amount to around 19,000 euros. The court examined whether the child should be returned to the care of the paternal aunt. She had actually received custody of the six-year-old from the Italian authorities.
Eitan’s grandmother described the judge’s decision as “devastating”. “Israel is taking away my grandson from me, what’s left of my daughter,” said the woman, Esther Cohen. She complained that the judges’ decision had been influenced by pressure from Italy.
It is still unclear when the child will return to Italy. “In this case there are no winners and no losers. We only think of Eitan,” commented the aunt on the judge’s verdict.