An Italian court has issued an international arrest warrant for the arrest of Shmulik Peleg for kidnapping his grandson, Eitan Biran, amid a bitter custody dispute between the 6-year-old’s relatives in Israel and his paternal aunt in Italy, the Italian daily Corriere Della Sera reported on Wednesday.

Eitan’s aunt, Aya Biran, who lives in the Italian city of Pavia, was assigned legal custody following the cable car accident that killed Eitan’s relatives by an Italian court but Eitan’s Israeli relatives said that the decision was made behind their backs.

In September, Peleg picked up Eitan from his aunt’s house in Pavia for a visit but instead of returning him after several hours, he drove him to Switzerland and then flew with him to Israel on a private plane.

Last month, an Israeli court ordered that Eitan be returned to his relatives in Italy and ordered Peleg to pay about $20,000 in expenses and attorney fees. Peleg filed an appeal following the decision and Eitan is currently still in Israel.

Warrants have been issued for Peleg as well as an alleged accomplice, Gabriel Abutbul, an Israeli resident of Cyprus who allegedly accompanied Peleg in the car from Italy to Switzerland.

Mario Venditti, the Italian prosecutor in Pavia, where Eitan’s aunt lives, told Corriere Della Sera that Peleg carried out a “strategic and premeditated plan” to bring Eitan to Israel.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)