Israel "Home" After Few Months – German Case: How long must a child have lived in Israel for it to become "home" and ordered back there in Hague Convention proceedings?

The Hague Convention itself does not define "habitual residence" and no mention of a minimum period of time a child must live in a country for it to qualify as such is given. The principles, however, are clear; one parent alone cannot unilaterally change a child's country of "habitual residence". The decision to change habitual residence from one country to another must be joint. Once the decision is made, the 'new' country can very quickly become the country of habitual residence for Hague purposes. For example, in 2001 a German district court returned a child to Israel. It held that it had become the child's country of habitual residence after just 4 months.