Court rules accused sex abuser Leifer to be extradited back to Australia
The Jerusalem District Court on Monday ruled in favor of extraditing Malka Leifer to Australia where the former ultra-Orthodox girls’ high school principal faces 74 charges of child sex abuse.
The decision brings nearer to an end Leifer’s 12-year attempt to evade justice, which began when she fled to Israel in 2008 as accusations against her were coming to light, but can still be held up by an appeal.
Australia has been seeking the extradition of Leifer since 2014, on accusations that she sexually assaulted students under her care at a Jewish school in Melbourne.
The case had been delayed repeatedly by claims that Leifer was too sick to attend the hearings, and later by accusations of foot-dragging by Israeli officials seeking to protect Leifer, straining Israel’s relations with both Australia’s government and the Jewish community there.
“A victory for justice!! A victory for all survivors!!,” alleged victim Dassi Erlich tweeted moments after the ruling.
Judge Miriam Lomp’s decision was largely expected by the prosecution along with victims’ rights groups following the case, since she herself determined last May that Leifer was mentally fit to face justice.
That ruling was appealed by Leifer’s attorneys to the Supreme Court, which rejected the defense’s arguments out of hand earlier this month, notably arguing that questions regarding the 59-year-old’s mental state are for an Australian court –not an Israeli one — to adjudicate.
The defense was likely to appeal Monday’s decision as well, but given the Supreme Court’s stated frustration with the drawn-out nature of the proceedings, it was not clear whether the justices would even agree to take on the case another time.
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn will still be required to sign off on the extradition in order for Leifer to be put on a plane back to Australia — another procedural step that provides an opportunity for an appeal.
Manny Waks, who heads the Kol V’Oz international group supporting child sex abuse victims, called Lomp’s ruling “a great day for justice.”
“While there may yet be a further appeal, we have now overcome the biggest hurdles and can look forward to Malka Leifer’s extradition. We hope and trust that any remaining processes will be dealt with quickly so that we may see Leifer back in Australia in 2020,” he said in a statement.
Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler expressed hopes after the ruling that the Leifer would drop any remaining available appeals. “It is well past time to bring Leifer home. The survivors deserve justice,” he said.
In a joint statement ahead of Monday’s ruling, Leifer’s alleged victims Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Ellie Sapper lamented the lengthy proceedings that were required to reach a decision on extradition.
2011 we gave our statements to SOCIT.
9 years
72 months
2,190 daysSept 21 is THE extradition decision (10am -Jerusalem District Court).
72 court hearings it has all come down to this!
WILL MALKA LEIFER COME BACK TO AUSTRALIA?
Anxious. Wired. Hopeful#bringleiferback
— Dassi Erlich #bringleiferback (@dassi_erlich) September 16, 2020
In 2000, Leifer left Israel to take a job at Adass Israel, an Orthodox Jewish day school in Melbourne.
When allegations of sexual abuse against her began to surface eight years later, members of the school board purchased the mother of eight a plane ticket back to Israel, allowing her to escape before charges were filed.
She was arrested in Israel in 2014 after Australia filed for extradition, but a Jerusalem court suspended the proceedings in 2016, deeming her mentally unfit to stand trial. She was rearrested in 2018 after being filmed appearing to lead a fully functional life.
Leifer was allegedly aided by former health minister Yaakov Litzman, who police last year recommended be indicted for pressuring psychiatrists in his office to change the medical opinions submitted to the court to deem her unfit for trial. Litzman later became housing minister, but resigned from the government earlier this month, ostensibly in protest over coronavirus lockdown measures.
After over a year’s worth of additional hearings, Lomp concluded that the evidence regarding Leifer’s health was still inconclusive and ordered a board of psychiatric experts to determine whether the former principal had been faking mental incompetence.
In February, the panel filed its conclusion that Leifer had been faking, leading Lomp to make her determination last May.