Dad may take kids to Israel for religious purposes

A LEGAL tussle between parents on whether their three children should be allowed to travel to Israel to partake in religious ceremonies was heard in the in the Johannesburg High Court this week.

The mother refused to allow her husband to take the children out of South Africa. A judge commented that the parents, who were never married and were now separated, “genuinely disliked each other”, but that this should not stand in the way of the children’s legal rights.

The Children’s Act provides for the development of their religious and cultural rights. The children are in their formative years of religious and cultural development and will benefit from their visit to Israel, a land of multiple religions and rich history, the court said. The father turned to court after the mother refused to give her consent for them to travel towards the end of this month and for their passports, held at the office of an attorney, to be handed over to the father.

The father, an Israeli citizen who has been in South Africa since 2006, said he dearly wanted his children to travel to his country of birth. He said they planned to participate in religious celebrations with their elderly and ailing grandparents and other relatives who live in Israel.

The mother, on the other hand, fears that he will not return to South Africa with their children.

She said she was afraid he would relocate to Israel with their three children without telling her.

Her advocate told the court that there was litigation pending against the father for a claim in terms of a universal partnership as well as maintenance. Counsel proffered that the time was “ripe” for the father to relocate.

The parents separated in 2019 and the children are living with their father at present.

His advocate told the court that her client had no plans to relocate to Israel as he had businesses in this country. She referred the court to his auditor’s report on his business, his company’s ownership of immovable property that was of substantial value, and proof that he had secured renovation projects to be completed next year.

She said he only wanted to visit his family with his children so that they could integrate and establish familial bonds. The children have cousins of their age in Israel and his youngest child has not met his parents. His parents are elderly and ailing; they are unable to travel.

The mother, however, said she had always been concerned that he would take them to Israel and never return. She referred the court to pictures of packed bags in the father’s house, correspondence with friends that indicated that he did not want the children to know their mother and proof of deposits of money into offshore accounts, which she said demonstrated his intentions to leave permanently with the children.

According to the mother, he has no regard for the law as he used multiple identity numbers on important documents, which would pose a problem if the authorities had to trace him, or if he were not allowed back into the country with the children.

The judge said the court had to balance the interests of the children against those of their parents, who appeared to dislike one another despite several years of living together and sharing their three children.

“It may well be that the parties’ personalities may endure for a long while and the children cannot wait around until they resolve themselves,” the judge said.

He added that their constitutional rights to freedom of movement must prevail and that they must be allowed to travel to Israel. The court, however, ordered the father to set down an amount of R300 000 in case he did not return to South Africa and the mother had to institute legal proceedings in that regard.