President Reuven Rivlin has written to Britain’s Prince Charles to try to gain his help and add weight to a request by the parents of a two-year-old child who want to be allowed to bring their severely disabled child for care in Israel.
Two-year-old Alta Fixler of Manchester is permanently brain damaged since birth and doctors say that her condition will never improve.
According to British media reports, the UK-born child, whose parents are Israeli citizens, and who lead an ultra-Orthodox Jewish lifestyle, has been hooked up to a ventilator at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital since birth.
Doctors say that Alta cannot breathe, eat or drink without sophisticated medical intervention to keep her alive, they see no hope for any improvement in her condition and want to turn off her life support aids. As religiously observant Jews, her parents are completely opposed to this recommendation.
In appealing to Charles on humanitarian grounds to enlist his influence so that Alta might be brought to Israel for treatment, Rivlin wrote: “I know that representations have been made to HM Government on this matter, but I feel that the unique circumstances warrant a personal intervention on my part to you. 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.”
The case has also been taken up by the Board of Deputies of British Jews and by other Jewish organizations in the UK, which are offering the Fixlers moral support.
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, which is responsible for Alta’s care, appealed for a court decision to determine what would be the child’s best interests, and the High Court ruled in favor of a withdrawal of life support. The parents, who are fighting the ruling, want to bring the child to Israel so that she can continue to receive treatment.
Even before Rivlin became involved in the matter, Health Minister Yuli Edelstein appealed to British Health Secretary Matt Hancock to allow the child to be brought to Israel.
His request was accompanied by a legal opinion that, under Israeli law, treatment could be continued if the parents so desired, and were opposed to stopping care.