In a 2008 interview[21], Israeli journalist and documentary maker Nili Tal explained that in Israel "we don't have children (available) for adoption. That's why Israeli families who wanted children traveled to third world countries before Madonna and Angelina (Jolie) did. In the 1980s, they discovered the opportunity to adopt in Brazil. It was far away and expensive, but they went for it".
Despite her crimes, part of Israeli society was moved and supported her when she was arrested in the country in April 1986. Journalist Moisés Rabinovici, Estadão's correspondent in Israel at the time, covered the case and wrote an article in the Brazilian newspaper in which he said that “Many Israelis are prepared to throw themselves over the runway at Tel-Aviv airport to prevent any plane from taking off, taking Arlete Hilú from Minas Gerais back to Brazil, where she is being held in custody”[1]. In the same report, Rabinovici says that “parents of adopted children overcrowded (...) the court, singing and holding roses to protect Arlete even from reporters”.
Another report from the time, published in the Israeli press, described the reception as follows: “Hilú fled to Israel and was devotedly supported by adoptive families who benefited from her ‘services’, people who consider her a hero for having helped them through a stressful time”[22]. The newspaper was referring to the struggle of local families to adopt a baby.
