News
Rivlin appeals to Britain’s Prince Charles over critically ill Israeli girl
Rivlin appeals to Britain’s Prince Charles over critically ill Israeli girl
In a letter to heir to throne, president says family’ opposes end to medical treatment as ruled by UK court, asks for royal’s help in returning two-year-old with serious brain injury from Manchester to Israel
President Reuven Rivlin appealed to Prince Charles on Wednesday to help return to Israel a two-year-old girl with a serious brain injury, after the High Court in London ruled that her life-sustaining care in a British hospital be withdrawn.
In its decision, the court found that no action could improve Alta’s condition and that the transfer procedure itself could cause her suffering.
In a letter on Wednesday, President Reuvin Rivlin urged Charles, the heir to the British throne, to help to fulfill Alta Fixsler’s parents’ request to bring her to Israel.
“Their religious beliefs directly oppose ceasing medical treatment that could extend her life and have made arrangements for her safe transfer and continued treatment in Israel,” Rivlin wrote.
Advertisement
“It would be a tragedy if these parents’ wishes could not be accommodated in a way that respects both the law and their religious beliefs,” he wrote.
The 2-years old daughter of Avraham Fixsler, an ultra-Orthodox citizen of Israel, was suffering from brain damage after being deprived of oxygen at birth. Her father pleaded to be allowed to take his daughter to Israel for treatment.
“I want to keep my daughter, I want to have the ability to go to Israel and take my daughter with me. Under UK law, she’s an Israeli citizen, not a UK one,” Avraham Fixsler told Reuters on Tuesday.
“We waited a long time for a child, when she was born she was oxygen deprived and that caused brain damage.”
He said he had Israeli doctors who were willing to come to Manchester, where his daughter Alta is in hospital, and give the family their options for treating her.
“We believe she is not suffering and we want to have the right to keep her,” he said.
A spokesperson for Health Minister Yuli Edelstein confirmed Tuesday that the minister had appealed to the British government last week on the family’s behalf to say that Israel wished to take her in for treatment.
The family was waiting to hear whether they had the right to appeal the ruling.
“We want to do the best for her … Let me take my daughter and go to Israel,” said Fixsler.
