Hague Cases – Israel & America: How does America view Israel in terms of the way it handles Hague Convention applications to return abducted children to the U.S.A.?

According to a U.S. State Dept. report to Congress in 2004 on Compliance With the Convention, Israel was listed as a "Country of Concern", or the third category of “Countries coming under criticism”. The most-criticized category of countries was dubbed "Non-Compliant Countries", the second-most criticized category of countries was referred to as "Countries Not Fully Compliant". The report said the department had two principal concerns regarding Israel. It said: "With increasing frequency, Israeli courts request psychological evaluations in initial hearings related to return applications, and courts frequently condition return on broad "undertakings" that place an onerous burden on left-behind parents and tend to lengthen court proceedings." In particular the report criticized some pre-conditions demanded for a return order as being unrealistic and causing delays. It said: "Left-behind parents are often unable to fulfill some preconditions for return, such as requiring assurances that a taking parent will receive a visa or be able to reside lawfully in the U.S. While a left-behind parent's agreement to undertakings may ultimately result in a return order, negotiating the exact nature and extend of undertakings, in light of the taking parent's requests and the left-behind parent's ability to address those requests, often increases the length of court proceedings." It should be noted that help, by lawyers or even by the Central Authority, regarding obtaining visas for "abducting" Israelis allowing them to re-enter the U.S.A. legally is often vital in overcoming technical barriers to a return order. In cases where the parent abducting a child (who was perhaps even born in America) to Israel was living in the United States illegally he/she may claim in his/her defence that a return order would result in a grave risk of harm to the child. The abducting parent could argue that a return order would mean that the minor would effectively be cut off from him/her because of his/her lack of ability to enter the United States.