District Judge Brad McCampbell ruled Friday, Jan. 6 that two young girls who have been in Israel for over two years must be returned to their mother who lived in Hawkins.

The original ruling by McCampbell gave the father, a former Israeli diplomat, custody and the girls have been in Israel since that time. Friday’s hearing was done via Zoom.

The mother, Mishala Yona Cohen-Shachem, has been in Israel since the girls were taken there by their father, Chaim Menachem Shacham. She has been working but made the move to be near her daughters. Her permanent residence is in Hawkins.

The attorneys argued over the exact jurisdiction for making the ruling.

The mother’s attorney, Paul Leopold, argued that McCampbell’s 402nd District Court already had jurisdiction in which court the petition which awarded custody to father was filed. That decision was overturned on appeal.

That put the hearing back in McCampbell’s court.

The father’s attorney, Timothy McCarthy, argued the children should remain in Israel with the father. 

Leopold argued the father’s petition had been reversed and denied, and the children should be returned to the mother to live in Texas.

He claimed the habitual home of the children was the United States. The attorney said the children should have never left the country. They asked the children to be “re-returned” to this country.

McCampbell explained his position. “The appeals court basically said the children should be with the mother, and the father should not have been allowed to take them. It’s basically saying the mother is entitled to have them back,” McCampbell said. “When you boil it down it is simple. The children should be re-returned to the mother.”