JERUSALEM (AP) – An Israeli psychiatric panel has determined that a woman facing dozens of sex-abuse charges in Australia is fit to stand trial for extradition, the Justice Ministry confirmed Thursday.
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The decision is a major breakthrough in a years-old case that has strained relations between Israel and Australia and upset members of Australia’s Jewish community.
Malka Leifer faces 74 counts of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by three sisters who say they were abused while she was a principal at the ultra-Orthodox religious school they attended in Melbourne. In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer left the school in Australia and returned to Israel.
After Australia filed an extradition request, Leifer was put under house arrest in 2014 and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process. But that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn’t fit to stand trial.
Leifer was again arrested in early 2018 after an investigation claimed to have caught her leading a seemingly normal life and questioned her claims of suffering from mental illness. The court asked for another psychological review and she has since been held in Israeli custody.
On Thursday, Channel 13 reporter Aviad Glickman tweeted that the panel of experts had found her fit to stand trial. The Justice Ministry later confirmed the report.
In a statement issued through Kol v’Oz, an advocacy group for victims of sexual abuse, the three sisters welcomed the ruling.
“We cannot believe this day has come!!! Incredible news!! We knew this all along! Such a long wait! Justice has come!!” they said.
The group’s chief executive, Manny Waks, said the panel’s findings are to be presented at a court hearing on Tuesday after which the judge is to decide whether the extradition hearings can proceed.
He said his organization will do “all that we can to ensure Leifer is put on a plane back to Australia as soon as possible.”
The repeated delays in the case have strained relations with Australia, one of Israel’s closest allies, coming up in discussions between the countries’ leaders and in debates in Australia’s parliament. Leaders of Australia’s pro-Israel Jewish community have also expressed frustration.
Those frustrations have been amplified by the alleged involvement in the case of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox health minister, Yaacov Litzman. Israeli police have recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust against him for suspicions that he pressure ministry employees to skew Leifer’s psychiatric evaluations in her favor. Litzman denies wrongdoing.
Leifer’s attorney, Yehuda Fried, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Israel sure does seem to be taking its sweet time returning this child molester to Australia.
Why don’t they just lock her up in Israel. The so called Jewish government should never give over anther Jew to goyim. They did this to William Nakash and handed him over to France but France refused later to hand over an Arab terrorist to Israel. They handed over another American Jew who killed a Nazi who murdered a hundred thousand Jews but freed a Nazi who even America claimed he was guilty of murdering Jews. Meyer Lanskey was also thrown out and sent back to America. These Israeli secular cowards have no problem letting toeiva parades but hate religious Jews and Judaism. Glad I live in Boro park.
She can share a cell with Litzman after she sits in jail in Australia for faking her illness. In the meantime Welcome to Australia Malka.
politics politics il- australia
was there pressure from australia by any chance…..
To Heshy- Who was the American Jew, whom you claim was deported to the USA, for allegedly killing a Nazi? I never heard of that case.
Regarding Meyer Lansky, I agree that he should have been allowed to live in Israel, as Israel has taken in other gangsters over the years, who have lived quiet lives in Israel.
In reference to the case of John Demjanjuk, the Supreme Court of Israel freed him, since it was determined that he was not Ivan the Terrible. He was extradited to Israel from the USA, on charges of being Ivan. Once it was determined that he was in fact not Ivan, he could not be tried on other charges.
Now, regarding the case of the so-called frum principal of a Jewish school in Australia, who fled to Israel, who has been charged with sexually abused some girls at that school, she should be extradited to Australia, for trial. The latter case has dragged on for too long. I don’t care if she is frum, or reform, as that case demands justice.
Will she also get 103 years, or is that only for men? Woman always get off the hook. They put on those crocodile tears and the judge says, case dismissed and have a nice day. Only men are evil.