In an apparent case of authoritarian lapse, an Israeli man convicted of committing sexual crimes against minors has managed to legally adopt an Indian girl through surrogacy.
The move cannot be undone since Israel has no provision in its legislation to remove a girl child from a man's custody.
The man, a repeat sex offender, was jailed for a year and a half after being charged of sexually exploiting children who were placed under his care, revealed a probe by Israel National Council for the Child (NCC), a non-governmental organisation. Authorities categorised the offender as a paedophile - a person sexually attracted to children.
NCC conducted the probe after being tipped off by an anonymous e-mail about the man's past records.
The man is presently placed under observation by welfare authorities and is being made to undergo psychological treatments.
NCC Executive Director Yitzhak Kadman in a PTI report said, "In the past six years, 200 children have come to Israel via foreign surrogacy."
This brings to fore Israel's growing international surrogacy trend, which has been on the rise ever since same-sex couples were banned from adopting children from their native country.
Highlighting the authoritarian lapse Kadman said, "This case is a good wake up call that there are changes that have to be made."
To stress the need for change in Israel's adoption policies, Kadman wrote to Health Minister seeking adequate provisions. The ministry responded that "it was considering new policies to secure the protection of children born in overseas surrogacies".
