by Leonid Tsukanov
| This kind of thing happens from time to time with international marriages. Governments generally favour their own citizens in international divorces and custody conflicts. You many remember, dear Reader, Betty Mahmoody’s escape from Iran with her daughter in 1986 that was memorialized in the 1991 film Not Without My Daughter starring Sally Field. Another one, Phyllis Chesler, followed her Afghan college sweetheart home, and was trapped there, being only allowed to leave by her father-in-law when she fell seriously ill with hepatitis. |
For example, at a meeting held in late August 2025, accusations were made against former high-ranking Israeli security officials. Allegedly, it was they who turned the “humanitarian operation” into a criminal act, contributing to the demonization of the Bloc.
The Israelis, however, think differently.
OPERATION CHILDREN
The family conflict began in 2021. Blok's ex-husband, Danish Stefan Hensel, refused to return her children after a weekend in Copenhagen. He also allegedly "turned her against her mother", forbidding her to interact with her even by phone.
Over the next year and a half, Blok tried to get her children back through the courts and even obtained a corresponding ruling in her home country, but Copenhagen ignored these decisions. In Denmark, the German lost in all instances and was recognized as an “unreliable parent.”
As a result, a paradoxical situation arose: each parent received “exclusive custody” of the children, but only within the territory of their own country.
Having despaired of finding a way to approach her ex-husband, Blok decided to take a daring step: to steal his children and return them to Germany, where she alone was granted the right of exclusive custody.
The plan seemed adventurous, but overall reliable: Hensel's house, where he lived with his children, was located in the south of Denmark, near the border with Germany. There is no full-fledged border control between the countries. This gave a chance to pull off the job before local law enforcement raised the alarm and closed the exits.
All that remained was to find adventurers who would agree to such a risky undertaking in the very center of Europe.
THE PLAN DIDN'T WORK
According to the case materials, the executor of the “complex operation” to remove children from Denmark was ultimately chosen to be CGI Group, registered in Israel, one of the country’s oldest companies working in the field of security and business intelligence.
The firm is headed by Yaakov Peri, who headed the Israeli General Security Service (Shabaq) until the mid-1990s. The firm's board also includes former high-ranking officials from elite units of the Israeli army, counterintelligence and Mossad.
The operation cost Blok several hundred thousand euros, and its planning and preparation took several months. The Christmas holidays (early January 2024) were chosen for the kidnapping, when the children were constantly in their father's house and were in full view of the perpetrators of the order.
In addition to seizing the children, the retirees were supposed to plant compromising evidence on Hensel – fake photographs in which the latter is depicted as a rapist and pedophile. Apparently, such a step was supposed to confuse the investigation and give Blok a weighty argument justifying the kidnapping in the eyes of the public.
However, the plan didn't work.
Due to the ensuing chaos, the operatives did not have time to plant incriminating evidence and were forced to act roughly: tie up the children and flee with them across the border, not caring about the latter’s comfort, and also allegedly periodically threatening them.
The mercenaries didn’t have time to thoroughly search those being transported—and they didn’t notice a radio beacon attached to the clothes of one of the children.
This allowed Danish law enforcement to quickly track down the kidnappers and "unravel" the entire chain all the way to the main customer. Already on January 4, the police descended on the Blocks and charged the businesswoman with kidnapping.
As a result, the “kidnapping of the century” lasted no more than a week and ultimately cost three Israeli agents (two Mossad retirees and one military intelligence officer) their freedom.
True, this became known only a few days ago - the investigation was conducted behind closed doors under constant behind-the-scenes pressure from Tel Aviv.
At the same time, Blok still insists that she was not aware of the details of the operation. Allegedly, the Israelis were secretly hired by her mother, who died suddenly nine months before the kidnapping. The businesswoman learned about what happened only after the mercenaries crossed the border and called her to give the address of the "meeting point."
It is impossible to verify this version, since there is not a single record left confirming the participation of the older generation of Bloks in organizing the kidnapping. 83-year-old restaurateur Eugen Blok, the father of the accused, avoids commenting to the press.
DUBIOUS REPUTATION
CGI Group predictably denies the accusations leveled against it, although it admits that several of its employees were "personally involved in the criminal scheme." German law enforcement officials are not sure of the veracity of Blok's arguments.
Some of them insist on a more detailed examination of the testimony of retired security officer August Hanning, who is currently a defense witness in the case. According to the prosecutor's office, the former head of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND) was on friendly terms with the Bloks and could have offered to hire Israelis to provide the main defendants with a reliable alibi and protect them from possible blackmail by the perpetrators.
The investigation suggests that Hanning took charge of organizing the kidnapping and could promise the Israeli security forces protection and a guaranteed escape from prosecution - since the operation was allegedly coordinated with local authorities and complied with German law.
This version, at least, explains why the kidnappers left Denmark for Germany, practically without hiding anything and not worrying too much about resistance from local law enforcement.
However, even if the version about Hanning's interference and misleading the mercenaries turns out to be true, the reputation of CGI Group can hardly be called impeccable. During its existence, the company has been involved in scandals several times - both domestically and abroad.
For example, in 2006, contractors affiliated with the firm were involved in installing “listening windows” in the Canadian government’s information security system, which allowed Israeli intelligence to obtain information about the mood in Ottawa for years and pump out confidential documents right under the authorities’ noses.
In 2020, Peri's people were caught collecting classified information about Blue and White party leader Benny Gantz (at the time, the second most powerful person in Israel) at the request of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office.
And in 2024, the company was on the list of "potential lobbyists" for Qatar's interests in Israel (as part of the "Qatargate" scandal). There are also many scandals where the role of retirees could not be proven.
However, one should not expect the “Blok Affair” to have a negative impact on the firm’s position: Peri’s team enjoys the protection of senior officials and is a “valuable asset” in the political portfolio of the Israeli Prime Minister.
If the German justice system tries to seek sanctions against CGI Group, official Tel Aviv will use state resources to fight off the charges.
On the other hand, the scandal could slow down the organization’s further expansion. In particular, it could attract the close (and unnecessary) attention of European law enforcement to the “Italian office” of CGI Group, opened in early 2025 under the leadership of retired Israeli diplomat Oren Ziv. Which, in turn, will complicate the firm’s shadowy work in the interests of the Israeli government.
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Phyllis Chesler 02/13/2008 The Islamification of Europe - The Battle for America Has Just Begun. Bat Ye'or
Phyllis Chesler 03/08/2007 How my eyes were opened to the barbarity of Islam
Phyllis Chesler 11/13/2009 Canada: New citizenship guide says no to 'barbaric' practices
Phyllis Chesler 02/13/2008 The Islamification of Europe - The Battle for America Has Just Begun. Bat Ye'or
Phyllis Chesler 03/08/2007 How my eyes were opened to the barbarity of Islam