The
pair are believed to be lovers.
Question marks
surrounding the girl's fate had led the Jerusalem
Post to ask: "Is Rose Israel's Madeleine (McCann)?"
The story has
gripped the Israeli nation after it emerged that
Rose's grandfather also became her stepfather,
falling in love with his son's bride and fathering
two more daughters with her.
Ilan Ben-Shalon,
head of the police team investigating Rose's
disappearance from the Mediterranean coastal resort
of Netanya, said the child's mother was arrested two
weeks ago with her ex-husband's father, following a
tip-off.
Rose's
great-grandmother, Mr Ron's mother, had told police
she had not seen the child for several months.
The couple are in
police custody. Mr Ben-Shalom said: "According to
the suspects' statements so far, there is a strong
suspicion that Roni and Marie are involved in
violent abuse and the murder of Rose."
He did not release
their surnames but local media named the grandfather
as Roni Ron, a 45-year-old Israeli, and the mother
as Frenchwoman Marie Pisam, 23.
Mr Ron's lawyer,
Revital Swid, said her client admitted hitting Rose
in a burst of anger as she cried from the back seat
of the car and that later, stricken by fear and
remorse, he concealed her corpse.
Mr Ron said Ms
Pisam was unaware of the killing. "He confessed to
investigators and reconstructed the events of that
tragic night when he gave the child a blow, a blow
he did not expect to have such a result," Ms Swid
told reporters.
"He was under
pressure, panicked, was very worried about his
partner's likely reaction, and as a result took
action to conceal (the body)."
However, Israeli's
national police commissioner claimed Mr Ron had
given several conflicting statements.
