Z.S. hasn't seen her daughters for two and a half years. She's afraid they're hungry and not going to school, though one is nine and the other seven. Their father is an Israeli citizen whom Z.S. met a decade ago when she was 20 and he came for a visit to Azerbaijan.

She came to Israel at his invitation, and the couple had the girls. The father later abandoned Z.S. and the girls, left them with his family, and went to Azerbaijan. Eighteen months ago he returned with a wife and new baby, and demanded Z.S. leave his mother's flat, hitting her repeatedly.

In June 2004, the father told her he was taking the girls to Azerbaijan for a vacation. He demanded $400 for plane tickets and $600 for a weekend with them before the flight. This is what Z.S. told the Council for the Welfare of the Child, and testified to the attorney aiding her via the Justice Ministry.

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"They said they are hungry all the time and their grandmother [whom the father sent with them to Azerbaijan] says they are hungry," says Z.S., who sent them money.

The mother, a non-Jew, is in Israel illegally. She knows that if she leaves she will not be able to return. But she wants her daughters to grow up here, so about 18 months ago she began the process of obtaining passports for the girls.

However, the central district prosecutor, representing the Interior Ministry, told the Ramat Gan Family Court that the mother was "improperly using the daughters" to obtain citizenship. In his ruling two weeks ago, Judge Gershon German said "the parents of the minor children are in Israel and it is inconceivable that they would not be able to return to their parents or custody not be finalized because it might further the illegal stay of the mother in Israel."

German ordered that the passports be issued, but as of yesterday the Israeli Embassy in Baku has not done so. The Interior Ministry said in response that the relevant instructions had been issued.