A 12-year-old Charedi girl who flew to London for Chanukah is now trapped. In spite of having lived in Israel with her family for her entire life, she cannot return to Israel due to the new Covid-19 flight regulations, because she does not have Israeli citizenship. The girl’s parents live in Yerushalayim, but have kept and maintained their British citizenship and never took out official Israeli citizenship. The children are also under the auspices of residents but not citizens.
The girl has both American and British citizenship and flew to London for Chanukah to spend time with her grandparents together with a cousin who does have Israeli citizenship and succeeded at returning to Israel. The 12-year-old girl, however, was refused the ability to return home.
The girl’s father told BeChadrei Charedim that the girl flew to London, together with a third cousin, as a present for her Bas Mitzvah. The third cousin is also stuck in England and unable to return to Israel, as she too doesn’t possess Israeli citizenship.
“I did everything that I could and I followed all of the rules,” said the girl’s father. “I made sure that she had a permit to fly out and to return. But suddenly, the government changed the rules and decided that anyone without Israeli citizenship can no longer return. They didn’t even give us one moment’s notice to plan and make arrangements. I reached out to numerous MKs and no one responded. Israel knows how to be humane to Gaza and to many other far-flung places around the globe, but to a 12-year-old girl who just wants to come home, they refuse her the ability to come back to her parents. This is inhumane. She is a 12-year-old girl who has already been away from home for more than two weeks. I have no idea how long it will take to get her back. No one is even willing to try to help us.”
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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32 Responses
That’s really awful for her. But I guess she must be somewhat worldly to be able to travel without parents at such an age.
Kind of ironic- if she makes Aliya on the spot, she can come home, right? But my guess is that the parents beshitta don’t want to do that because they don’t hold of the illegitimate gov’t… hmm. The government who you refuse to even vote for, won’t help. But the emes is that they are totally willing, if you’d just acknowledge that you’re her government.
I am in the exact same boat, my husband flew out of Israel early Sunday morning, first of all, the inhuman behavior of knowingly taking a whole flight to London without letting the passenger’s know that there isn’t a way back for them, and since Sunday he is stuck in London without any way back and no one in this idiotic country gives a flying damn.
Shocking behavior for a country and it’s elected officials.
Why would parents send a 12 year old child overseas by herself during a worldwide pandemic is the bigger question.
If you refuse citizenship, you can’t demand the rights of a citizen!
They slap the government in the face and then complain when the government doesn’t go out of its way for them.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too.
or
You made your own bed, now sleep in it.
It’s not a matter of acknowledging the Israeli government. They probably have no problem with that.
The problem is submitting to the shmad of the Israeli government by becoming their citizen and risking, for example, that the Israeli government will insist that this 12 year old girl join the Zionist army in 6 years, for example.
Seriously? She’s at her grandparents not a Catholic orphanage….
You sent your kid overseas during a pandemic… victim status denied
She simply needs to join the entourage of Vice President Mike Pence on his forthcoming trip to Israel, or 40 Bahrain politicians:- They of-course would never be denied entry, nor even be required to quarantine nor wear face masks.
NONSENSE!
This is what happens when you have no Constitution. Unfortunately, there is little hope in retaining our freedoms in the USA either. The left is bent on turning us into little commies.
Nothing is preventing her parents from getting her Israeli citizenship, and Israel is allowing instant aliyah. Both the US and the UK allow multiple citizenship and in fact I personally know someone with passports from the US, UK and Israel.
Sorry – I don’t have sympathy. They don’t have citizenship in Israel…
they are finally allowing her to come in, but she needs to go to a corona hotel/jail all alone where they serve you a roll+cheese twice a day
@Lib. yep, sounds like extortion: “I won’t let you go home unless you submit to my rule”
Lib: nothing to do with not holding of the government. i have plenty English cousins who live here, but do not want to become israeli.
I married an Israeli, so automatically my children are Israeli, but a set of Anglo parents have plenty good reason not to become israeli.
והמבין יבין
Weird situation, hut she’s not exactly homeless. Not to minimizethe inconvenience, but she’s staying by her grandparents.
Not so simple for her. Regarding the aliyah option, since the girl is a minor she would need at least one of her parents to make aliyah. She can’t make aliyah as an individual until she turns 18. Hopefully the pandemic will be over by then….
I did not expect more from Israel,they only care for palestiniens and other but not for jewish people.
And the members of the knesset they only look for them self
Lib, you don’t know the reason that these people do not have citizenship. But even if it is for ideological reasons, what you are saying makes no sense. You are advocating punishing a couple whose belief about citizenship differs from yours by kidnapping their 12-year-old daughter and holding her in a distant foreign country. That is outrageous.
Lib, take it easy- especially when you have no idea what you are tlaking about.
there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of chareidi fmailies in yerushalyim and bet shemesh who are not citizens of the Israeli state.
This is also because of practical reasons – primarily the army, where boys and girls can be forced to live in very close quarters and even share tiny tanks etc…
This is also for ideological reasons – but has nothing to do with voting. this was the opinion of Maran HaRav Shach zatzakal and ylch”t Maran R’ Gershon Edelstein and Maran R’ Avrohom Gurvitz shlit”a
They feel that taking out is citizen ship is WORSE than voting,
[this was part of the question with the recent “eretz Hakoidesh” platfrom, which required REGISTERING as amember first, but it that case Maran Sar HaToira felt an exception should be made.
the basic premise remains, that the sraeli’s will bend over backwards for the Arab population, allowing family reunions etc.. even fining the police officers for misconduct, while paying little attention to the frum yidden.
זובחי עגלות
@Lib:
Why in the word should they need to acknowledge the illegitimate regime in order for their daughter to be allowed into HER G-D GIVEN COUNTRY?
It is illegitimate for an illegitimate government (no matter how legitimate its reasoning may be… and I am the first to say that in this case said illegitimate government had very legitimate reasoning) to bar someone from its shores. Why then is it fair to force said barred person(s) to legitimize said illegitimate entity so that said illegitimate entity will agree to help them become unbarred? The illegitimate entity is the entity that illegitimately barred them in the first place. The whole barring was illegitimate.
Gosh, this is pretty simple.
The amount of rishus of people commenting here is mindbogling
So sorry that this youngster has stupid parents.
“Trapped”?
Seriously?
She’s with her GRANDPARENTS!
Oh how much I would give to be “trapped” with my grandparents again!!!!
Why is this news? Israel has not allowed non-Israelis to fly in (except for a few exceptions & Yeshiva/seminary students) since right after Pesach! Nothing changed. The girl is stuck in UK because her parents don’t think the rules apply to them. Even if this new crisis wouldn’t have happened, the situation would be the same.
It’s about time there was personal accountability and responsibility for YOUR CHOICES. Stop blaming the government. You can’t live here for 9 months of Corona and not know the rules.
RR44 :
Just to clarify, Rav Aharon Feldman stated in writing that the alleged heter Rav Chaim gave, to vote in the WZO/Eretz HaKodesh, was based on totally false information.
So, since that evil man started the WZO over a century ago, gedolim across the board forbade joining that heretical organization, and nothing in that regard has changed since.
she should fly to the US. from theree fly on to israel
Do you say a brocha on a bas-mitzva cake if you eat it and have it too?
This family has not only conflicting attitudes towards Eretz/Medinat Israel, but also to each other.
Apparently, the parents do not trust their own parents to take care of the kid. Maybe the wife does not trust the M-I-L, judging her for the son she raised… Parents did trust the cousin though. But, ironically, the cousin abandoned responsibility and flew back home. Why they trusted that Zionist cousin is not clear. Possibly the cousin hid her citizenship from the tzibbur.
At the end, if the child is in imminent danger, one of the parents should go and be with her in England. Maybe get a vaccine first.
Does Israel give vaccines to non-citizens, or do they have lower priority?
Hey Funky is that a pun” no-one gives a FLYING Dam”.
Your entrance card is Citizenship. BTW all is not bad she could fly to the USA. She does have US citizenship .
Problem solved.
@RR44, the government doesn’t draft chareidi girls to the army. There’s a nuance here. Think about it. All those non-foreign girls in her class, what will be with them? And the bulk of the bochurim learning in the HolyLand. They’re legit Israeli and have a Teudat Zehut lo aleinu! Why aren’t they all in jail for dodging the draft? Because you just answer your mail with a check box that you’re chareidi, and actively in Yeshiva, and if you do that once a year, you don’t get arrested. And they give up after a few years. When you don’t answer repeated pieces of mail, because you have so much bitachon that it’s an aveira to send a reply to the illegitimate government, so you run the risk of getting flagged and arrested. And then we make a hafgana.
>> Rav Aharon Feldman stated in writing that the alleged heter Rav Chaim gave, to vote in the WZO/Eretz HaKodesh, was based on totally false information.
Not taking sides, but how does Daas torah works for those who believe in it.
What if someone says that Rav Feldman’s psak was based on totally false information? Ein l’davar sof.
why not ask Rav Chaim directly?
Maybe we can go back to that famous Gemorah that exlpains Daas Torah and learn from that
To all of the severely ill people suggesting that there is nothing sad about a little twelve-year-old girl unexpectedly being forced to live with her grandparents in a different country and being refused return to her parents, family, home, friends, surroundings and community: I wish you all tremendous arichus yamim. You must be really — and I mean REALLY — old, if you have so completely forgotten how it feels to be a young pre-teen.
@johnklets: Oh, it ain’t too mindboggling… You should read some of the comments on ANY OTHER DAMN PAGE ON YWN. Hashem Yishmireinu!
I know see why I never read these comments.
The things people write with such authority and hatred may be the reason why we are still waiting for moshiach…..
I am very closely related to the young girls.
The parents sent her to London for chanuka. These days foreigners living in Israel cannot see their family unless they travel to them.
Many many Chutznikim live in Israel without becoming Israeli becasue they dont want their sons to have problems with the army. They live here as residents and pay all taxes. The Israeli government makes A-LOT of money on us and cannot afford to do without us.
The rule for a while has been that residents can travel abroad and receive a permit which is exactly what was done with this young girl. She traveled with a family friend who was escorting her. This friend is English Israeli since she married an Israeli.
HER PARENTS DID A PERFECTLY RESPONSIBLE THING.
ISRAEL acting rashly the way they always did said with no prior notice residents may not return. It made no sense and was inhumane. There was parents abroad with their kids stuck in Israel etc
With media pressure Israel has since changed the rule. Residents may return.
PLEASE FELLOW JEWS LETS BE KINDER TO EACH OTHER – DON’T BE SO HARSH IN YOUR JUDGEMENT ESPECIALLY SINCE MOST OF WHAT WAS WRITTEN WAS NONSENSE