New Attorneys Defend Mom Whose Kids Refused Lunch with Dad

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The West Bloomfield Township mother a judge accused of brainwashing her three children and turning them against their father has hired new attorneys to represent her in an acrimonious child custody battle that has captured headlines worldwide.

Maya Eibschitz-Tsimhoni and her ex-husband, Omer Tsimhoni, were back in Oakland County Circuit Court Monday for a progress report on how their three children – boys ages 14 and 10, and a girl, age 9 – are doing at a summer camp, where they were sent last week after being released from Oakland County Children’s Village.

They had been in the juvenile detention facility for three weeks after Oakland County Family Court Judge Lisa Gorcyca slapped them with a civil contempt of court charge for refusing to have lunch with their father and begin rebuilding their fractured relationship with him.

Gorcyca later lifted the contempt of court ruling, releasing the siblings from detention and sending them to summer camp instead. Last week, Omer Tsimhoni filed for sole custody of the children.

Monday’s hearing had more of the trappings of high drama that have given the case international celebrity.

Several supporters of Eibschitz-Tsimhoni wore specially designed “Love Is Not Court Ordered” T-shirts with a printed message urging the judge to send the children home to their mother, The Detroit News reports. Other women, their children in tow, were stopped from carrying picket signs bearing similar messages into the courtroom.

More on This Story:

• Judge Sends Kids to Detention for Refusing Lunch with Dad
• New Twist in Case of Kids Sent to Juvie for Refusing Lunch with Dad
• Dad Seeks Custody of Kids Sent to Detention for Refusing Lunch with Him

Cousins Andrew and Jeffrey Abood introduced themselves to the media as the latest in a string of a dozen attorneys to represent Eibschitz-Tsimhoni, a well-known ophthalmologist, since she filed for divorce in 2009.

Speaking with reporters after the hearing, Andrew Abood said Eibschitz-Tsimhoni has been unfairly vilified.

“There are a lot of kids in this state that would be lucky to have a mother like her,” Abood said of Eibschitz-Tsimhoni.

He described the children as “smart” and “intuitive,” and said they haven’t exhibited any behaviors that would be considered abnormal.

“They get good grades and have good relationships,” Abood said. “They love each other and they love their mother.”

He added: “We want them to have a positive relationship with their father.”

The children have refused to meet with or even look at their father, according to reports. In earlier proceedings, their court-appointed attorney, William Lansat, called their behavior “cult-like,” and described how they often huddled together and tapped their feet, “like Morse Code,” to communicate.

Lansat said in court Monday that the children are doing well at camp and will remain there for the foreseeable future.

“We don’t think they are doing as well as they would be at home,” Abood said after the hearing, Eibschitz-Tsimhoni at his side, The Oakland Press repots. “A lot of kids go to summer camp, but few, if any, are ordered to go there.”

A hearing on the custody issue is set for Wednesday.

Tsimhoni has described his ex-wife as “unfit” in court filings, and has asked that she submit to a psychological exam. Eibschitz-Tsimhoni countered that her former husband has violent tendencies. She fears he will kidnap the children and take them to Israel.