Grandad defends taking boy from cable car crash to Israel

JERUSALEM (AP) — The grandfather of a 6-year-old boy who survived a cable car crash in Italy that killed his immediate family and is now the target of a bitter custody battle is defending his decision to spirit the child off to Israel. Eitan Biran’s parents and younger sibling were among 14 people killed in May when a cable car slammed into a mountainside in northern Italy. He is now the focus of a custody battle between his maternal grandparents in Israel and his paternal relatives in Italy. Shmulik Peleg, his maternal grandfather, was questioned by Israeli police. Biran’s paternal relatives say he was taken without their knowledge and are seeking his return.