Had a father disappeared with a one-year-old boy and a three-year-old girl after the mother filed a complaint, it is doubtful anyone would dare claim that he probably had good reason. No one would suggest hiding him, helping him escape or assuming that the mother who complained was a monster. But when the suspect is a woman and the complainant is a man, thousands of commenters suddenly feel they have no need for facts, evidence or a court.
Jerusalem District Police are searching for Alia Joy Hirschberg and her two children, three-year-old Tala Reisel and one-year-old Nathan Yaakov Verona. According to police, the three entered Israel in August 2025, later disappeared and may currently be in the Jerusalem area. The mother is under investigation on suspicion of abducting the children.
What did people write online about the mother who disappeared near Jerusalem?
The same claims appeared repeatedly among the thousands of reactions: a mother cannot abduct her own children; she must have fled from a dangerous father; the police are helping a man control her; his complaint is probably an act of revenge; anyone who sees her should help rather than report her; and children are always safer with their mother.
These are not necessarily word-for-word quotations, but they accurately reflect the tone of countless responses. Their common message is clear: none of the commenters knows the father, knows what happened between the parents or has seen the evidence. Yet the father has already been convicted in the court of public opinion, while the mother has already been cleared. Not because the facts were established, but because he is a man and she is a woman.
Can a mother abduct her own children?
Yes. The Hague Convention also applies when one parent removes children from their country of habitual residence or keeps them in another country in violation of custody rights. The procedure is not intended to determine which parent is better. Its purpose is to return the custody dispute to the country with legal jurisdiction, subject to the exceptions established by the convention.
In this case, the children’s country of habitual residence is not Israel. Disappearing in the Jerusalem area is therefore not a legitimate way to settle a family dispute or create facts on the ground. Even claims of danger must be examined through legal proceedings, not by an online crowd that has already decided whom to believe.
When does positive discrimination become misandry?
The struggle against violence toward women is essential, and statistics do show that many women are harmed by men. But statistics are not an indictment against a specific individual. Anyone who condemns an unknown father solely because of his sex is using the same corrupt mechanism employed by racists against ethnic, religious and social groups.
This erasure also carries a human cost. Family breakdown, separation from children, isolation and helplessness can push people into profound despair. Men are not immune to pain, and the suffering of fathers does not become a joke or manipulation merely because they are men.
The responsible response is simple: anyone who knows where the mother and children are should contact the police. Children are not the property of either parent, and the truth is not determined by gender.
