Thumbs-Up for Custody? 👍

A father in Israel took his ex to court, claiming she had abducted their five-year-old daughter to South Africa. He wanted her back immediately. Arguing under the Hague Convention, the father insisted the child had been “unlawfully removed” from Israel in 2021. The mother, however, claimed he had consented to the move, even producing a digitally signed parental consent form. The clincher? A WhatsApp exchange where the father replied to the document with a cheerful 👍.

According to the mother, she had been transparent about relocating to South Africa permanently, a plan the father allegedly supported. He had even visited her family home in 2016, the same address listed on the consent form. She also argued that returning the child to Israel would expose her to a “grave risk,” noting her own financial struggles there after the birth, which had forced her to seek welfare support.

Judge Adams had a few thoughts. First, nearly four years had passed since the child settled in Johannesburg with her mother and grandparents. Now fluent in English and thriving, she had “no recollection” of Israel. Uprooting her, the judge reasoned, would mean separation from her mother, which would do more harm than good.

Then there was the issue of the mother returning to Israel. She simply couldn’t. With no tertiary education and no job prospects beyond her old gig at a duty-free shop, she wouldn’t be able to support herself, let alone a child.

Judge Adams reiterated that, in his view, the child would suffer physical or psychological harm or be exposed to an intolerable situation should she be returned to Israel. Moreover, he found that there were no conceivable protective measures or a package of protective measures that would ameliorate or mitigate the “obvious grave risk of return to Israel.”

With that, the court ruled against the father. The little girl stays put, happily growing up with her mother in South Africa, proving once and for all that a thumbs-up on WhatsApp can be a binding international custody agreement! Sort of.

You can read the full RSA v C M judgement here.

Written by Theo Tembo