Woman stopped in routine check, held for 'kidnapping' child from U.S. dad

A woman from the north of Israel was arrested Monday on suspicion of abducting her five-year-old son from his father, a Chinese physician living in the United States.

Police say the woman came to Israel three years ago with the boy and had since failed to return to the U.S.

The woman says the child was born following her being raped by the physician, who apparently employed her at the time.

The woman was arrested following a routine inspection that discovered a court order from 2006 requesting she return the boy to his father. The order was obtained with the aid of the Hague Convention of 1980.

The Convention stipulates that if a child is removed from its country of habitual residence without the agreement of one of its joint custodians, it must be returned to the country immediately. The woman was apparently summoned to the court session deliberating the request, but claims never to have been aware of the case and therefore unable to defend herself against the father's claims.

The mother's detention was extended to Tuesday morning, and the boy was transfered to the custody of a Habad emissary trusted by welfare authorities.

Nehama Tzibin, representing the mother along with Bernard Alfasi, said: "It would be best if the state prosecution and the police conducted their inquiries without unduly separating a mother from her child. She says that she did not abduct her son, was not aware of any pending lawsuits against her guardianship, and never attempted to conceal either him or herself throughout her stay in Israel."

The woman said that the father of the child signed all the documents necessary for his receiving a passport and that he was fully aware of her intentions to travel to Israel with the boy.