The custody and future of Eitan Biran, the 5-year-old survivor of the Italian cable car disaster, is now the subject of a family dispute between his aunt in Italy and his family members in Israel.

Eitan, who miraculously survived the disaster but lost his parents, younger brother, and great-grandparents, was released from the hospital after 18 days into the care of his father’s sister Aya, who lives in Italy with her husband and children. At the time of the disaster, Eitan’s parents were temporarily living in Italy because Amit, Eitan’s father, was attending medical school there.

However, the rest of Eitan’s family members live in Israel and they want to bring Eitan back to Israel where he could grow up and “receive a Jewish education instead of attending a Catholic school in Italy.”

Eitan’s aunt from his mother’s side, Gali Peleg, who initiated legal proceedings earlier this month to adopt Eitan, explained that although custody of Eitan was given to Aya, it was only supposed to be temporary. “Aya approached my father and said that a decision has to be made regarding temporary custody because if not, the state [of Italy] will receive custody.”

Peleg continued to explain that since Aya is a doctor and speaks Italian, it was agreed that she would temporarily receive custody. But later it became clear that if the original custody isn’t challenged in court within ten days, it becomes permanent.

Peleg spoke to the media about the dispute, saying that she was reluctant to make the dispute public but she has no choice since Aya won’t communicate with them. “At the beginning, Aya said that they were coming to Israel. That’s why we accepted that she had custody because if Eitan is in Israel it doesn’t matter which family he grows up in. The main thing is that he’s here in Israel. His place is here.”

But currently, Aya is not communicating at all with Eitan’s relatives in Israel, Peleg said. “We can only see Eitan twice a week,” she said tearfully. “I can’t even explain how hard that is. His Saba and Savta can only see him twice a week.”

“I don’t know what the next step will be. It’s possible that she’ll decide that the right thing for him is that he won’t see us until he’s 18. I don’t intend to allow that to happen. I’m not giving up on my nephew.”

Peleg also says that Aya and her family aren’t close to Eitan in any way and it’s like Eitan “was abducted by relatives who don’t know him at all.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)