Summary & score
Israel is a Contracting Party to the 1980 Hague Child Abduction Convention, in force since 1991-12-01 (Ratification). Its Accountability Index score is driven overwhelmingly by return performance — whether abducted children are actually returned (80% of the score) — with legal framework, judicial engagement and treaty integration as system-quality context.
Score breakdown
Israel scores 56.4 / 100 on the Hague Return Accountability Index — global rank #24 of 103, Tier 2 · Good performance. Return effectiveness — whether abducted children are actually returned — is 80% of the score; the remaining 20% is system-quality context (legal framework, speed, judicial engagement, cooperation, treaty integration).
Show the exact calculation
Return effectiveness: measured return rate 57% of 14 concluded (shrunk to 47% toward the 39% global prior) → 52.8.
Legal framework: Legal framework (HCCH Country Profile): completed HCCH Country Profile / implementing framework (base 62); concentrated jurisdiction — 14 Family Courts (+25) → 87.
Sources: החזרת ילדים חטופים (Central Authority) · דוח תקופתי בדבר יישום אמנת זכויות הילד/האג · HCCH 2015 Statistical Analysis (Global Report) — outcomes by requested State
Full methodology and every country's components: the Accountability Index.
Quick facts
| Hague 1980 status | Contracting Party · in force 1991-12-01 · Ratification |
|---|---|
| Article 38 check | Not required (ratifying state) |
| EU member state | No |
| Central authority | Department of International Affairs — Office of the State Attorney — Ministry of Justice |
| Latest data year | 2021 (HCCH statistical study) |
| Data scope | Global HCCH 2021 flows (this country responded) |
| Budget transparency | No public budget line located |
Case outcomes
HCCH 2021 application flows (all Convention partners, not U.S.-only):
| Incoming return | Outgoing return | Incoming access | Outgoing access | Total 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 33 |
Source: HCCH (Prof. Nigel Lowe & Victoria Stephens) — Prel. Doc. No 19A — Statistical study of applications made in 2021 (5th Global Study, updated Sept 2024) E1 · official. These are application counts, not outcomes. HCCH publishes return outcomes only as a global aggregate (39% returned in 2021), so a per-country return rate is not shown.
U.S.-related cases only (CY2024) proxy data
U.S.-related cases only — four return cases involving four children in CY2024, all four resolved and none open at year end. This is NOT Israel's global caseload and 'resolved' does not necessarily mean the child was returned.
| Return cases | Resolved | Open at year end | Children |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 4 (100%) | 0 | 4 |
One access case involving three children (opened 2022) remained open at year end.
Source: U.S. Department of State, Office of Children's Issues — Annual Report on International Child Abduction 2025 (reporting on calendar year 2024) E2 · proxy. “Resolved” is not the same as “returned.” This covers only cases involving the United States.
Speed & enforcement
U.S. IPCA 2024: children located in under one week; judicial authorities 'regularly reached timely decisions'; decisions 'generally enforced in a timely manner'. U.S.-proxy
Public cost & cost efficiency
| Direct Central Authority cost estimated | 2,016,000–10,080,000 ILS ≈ $544,320–$2,721,600 |
|---|---|
| Broad public implementation cost estimated | 5,040,000–40,320,000 ILS ≈ $1,360,800–$10,886,400 |
| Returned children (denominator) | 3–6 proxy national incoming return applications 2021 (11) × global HCCH return rate 39% (band 30–51%). Small-N: a per-child figure from single digits is highly volatile. |
| Cost per returned child (broad, est.) | $226,800–$3,628,800 proxy denominator |
| Cost per active case (est.) | $41,236–$329,891 over 33 active/handled cases |
| International public support | Not an EU member; pays an HCCH assessed contribution (amount not public). No inbound international public support for its Central Authority located. |
FTE 6–15 × fully-loaded cost 280,000–480,000 ILS × overhead 1.2–1.4 → direct; × broad multiplier 2.5–4 → broad public cost. FX ILS→USD 0.27 (2026-07, approx). Budget transparency 0.15/1.
Sources: OECD — Average annual wages / general government compensation (loaded-cost benchmark) E3 · secondary · HCCH (Prof. Nigel Lowe & Victoria Stephens) — Prel. Doc. No 19A — Statistical study of applications made in 2021 (5th Global Study, updated Sept 2024) E1 · official · U.S. Department of State, Office of Children's Issues — Annual Report on International Child Abduction 2025 (reporting on calendar year 2024) E2 · proxy
Central authority & legal system
Department of International Affairs — Office of the State Attorney verified
Ministry of Justice
+972-73-392-8261 / +972-73-392-8262
After-hours emergency line: +972-50-621-6419
| Implementing law | Hague Convention (Return of Abducted Children) Law, 5751-1991. |
|---|---|
| Court structure | Family Courts have first-instance jurisdiction over return applications. |
| Appeals | Appeal to the District Court; further leave-to-appeal to the Supreme Court of Israel. |
| Enforcement | Return orders enforced through the courts and, where necessary, the Enforcement and Collection Authority / police assistance. |
| Legal aid | State legal aid available subject to eligibility; the State Attorney represents the Central Authority. |
| Mediation / voluntary return | Voluntary return and settlement encouraged within proceedings. |
International support
HCCH provides the multilateral framework, statistical studies, and the Malta Process. Per-country funding amounts from the EU, HCCH, UN, or Council of Europe are not published as discrete line items and are recorded as a data gap.
Transparency assessment
| Responded to HCCH 2021 statistical survey | Yes |
|---|---|
| Reports incoming & outgoing flows | Yes |
| Reports access cases | Yes |
| Dedicated budget line | Unknown — not located |
| Return-outcome / enforcement disclosure | Not published per-country (global aggregate only) |
| Transparency score | 100 / 100 |
responded to the 2021 survey (+40); longitudinal participation 4/4 prior studies (+30); reports both incoming & outgoing flows (+15); reports access cases (+15)
Data quality & limitations
- Per-country return outcomes are not published; the 39% figure is a global aggregate.
- The only per-country outcome data (U.S.-proxy) covers four U.S.-related cases in 2024.
- No public Central-Authority budget line located.
- West Bank cases fall outside Convention protocols (per U.S. State Department) and are not part of this rating.
Confidence: Medium (0.68) — confidence reflects the strength and breadth of evidence, separately from performance. A low confidence means "we cannot yet fully evaluate," not "this country performs badly."
Sources & evidence
| Source | Publisher | Tier | Supports |
|---|---|---|---|
| Status table — 1980 Child Abduction Convention (cid=24) | Hague Conference on Private International Law (HCCH) | E1 · official | hague_1980_status, entry_into_force_date, accession_or_ratification_type, article_38_acceptance_required |
| Prel. Doc. No 19A — Statistical study of applications made in 2021 (5th Global Study, updated Sept 2024) | HCCH (Prof. Nigel Lowe & Victoria Stephens) | E1 · official | caseload, transparency_survey_participation, global_return_rate, average_resolution_days, outcome_distribution |
| Central Authorities directory — 1980 Convention (cid=24) | HCCH | E1 · official | central_authority |
| Annual Report on International Child Abduction 2025 (reporting on calendar year 2024) | U.S. Department of State, Office of Children's Issues | E2 · proxy | cooperation, speed_proxy, us_related_case_counts |
| 1980 Hague Convention, Article 11 (six-week decision aspiration) | HCCH | E1 · official | speed_benchmark |
FOIA / public-records questions
Tailored requests that would raise Israel's confidence score and unlock the return-outcome and cost categories:
- What is the annual budget of the Ministry of Justice Department of International Affairs attributable to 1980 Convention casework?
- How many FTE staff and State Attorneys are assigned to Convention casework?
- How many children were physically returned from Israel under the Convention in each of the last five years?
- What is the average time from application to Family Court first-instance decision?
- How many return orders required Enforcement Authority or police action, and with what outcome?
- What is the annual legal-aid expenditure on Hague return proceedings?
- Does Israel publish national Hague statistics beyond its HCCH survey returns?
- What is the average enforcement time from final order to handover?
- How are grave-risk (Art. 13(1)(b)) defences resourced and adjudicated?
- What is the cost per resolved return case implied by the unit budget?
Use the data
Machine-readable data for every country: countries.json · rankings.json · rankings.csv · sources.json. Last updated 2026-07-06. Cite as: “SafeReturn Alliance, Hague Return Accountability Index (provisional), 2026-07-06.”