JERUSALEM (AP) – On Monday, Israeli authorities extradited a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her former students in Australia, ending a six-year legal battle that strained relations between the two governments and pitted the Jewish community in Australia against each other.
Malka Leifer, who is wanted for 74 allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia, was placed on a flight earlier in the day, a few hours before Israel closed its international airport for almost all air traffic due to an outbreak. furious coronavirus. Israeli media photographed Leifer boarding a plane at Ben Gurion Airport with her ankles and wrists. Her lawyer, Nick Kaufman, confirmed the extradition.
Leifer, a former teacher accused of sexually abusing several former students at a Jewish school in Melbourne, has been fighting extradition since 2014. Leifer, 54, maintains her innocence and prolonged court case, and repeated delays in Her extradition drew criticism from Australian officials as well as the country’s Jewish leaders.
The Hebrew-language news site Ynet reported that Leifer boarded a flight to Frankfurt, where she was to be transferred to another flight to Australia.
Three sisters – Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper – accused Leifer of abusing them while they were students at an ultra-Orthodox school in Melbourne. It is said that there are other victims. The Associated Press does not usually identify alleged victims of sexual abuse, but the sisters have spoken publicly about their allegations against Leifer.
Manny Waks, head of the Voice Against Child Sexual Abuse, an organization that represents Leifer’s victims, told The Associated Press that it was “an important day for justice and incredible for her alleged victims in particular, as well as sending an incredible message to others.” survivors that justice will prevail in the end. “
“From our perspective, it took far too long for this process to take place. We’ve seen over 70 hearings so far, “Waks said.
Erlich simply wrote on her Facebook page: “Leifer is on a plane to Australia.”
In Australia, the news of Leifer’s extradition was welcomed by parliamentarians and Jewish community leaders.
Dave Sharma, a member of parliament and former Australian ambassador to Israel, wrote on Twitter that it was “welcome news for all those concerned in this case.”
Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, said that “this extended saga” is over. “For too many survivors of child sexual abuse, justice is denied. But now, 12 years after fleeing Australia, Leifer is returning to court before the prosecutors, “he said in a statement.
Israel has extradition treaties with Europe and nine other countries, including the United States and Australia, and routinely extradites citizens charged with serious crimes. Leifer’s lawyers said they would ask him to serve any prison sentence in Israel, in accordance with Israeli law.
As the charges against her began to appear in 2008, Israel-born Leifer dropped out of school and returned to Israel, where she has lived ever since. Critics, including Leifer’s alleged victims, have accused Israeli authorities of dismissing the case for too long, while Leifer has claimed she is mentally unfit to stand trial.
Israeli police have also recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust against former Health Minister Yaakov Litzman on suspicion of pressuring ministry employees to destroy Leifer’s psychiatric assessments in her favor. Litzman, a powerful ultra-Orthodox politician, denies committing wrongdoing.
Last year, an Israeli psychiatric committee determined that Leifer was lying about her mental state, triggering extradition. In December, the Supreme Court rejected the final appeal against his extradition, and the Israeli justice minister signed the order for referral to Australia.
Details of Leifer’s connecting flight to Australia were not immediately available.
Late Sunday, the Israeli cabinet approved a tight closure for almost all incoming and outgoing air traffic from midnight Monday through January 31. The government has said it will make exceptions for a small number of humanitarian cases – such as funerals and medical patients – and cargo flights. Israel’s health ministry has recorded more than 600,000 cases of coronavirus and 4,419 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic last year.
Kaufman, Leifer’s lawyer, said that upon arrival in Australia, his client “will be quarantined and appear by video conference before a judge who will officially confirm his identity and read his charges.” He said he hoped the Australian authorities would respect her Orthodox Jewish lifestyle and allow her regular contact with lawyers and her family.
Avi Nissenkorn, the former Israeli justice minister who had signed the extradition order, wrote on Twitter: “I promised not to block the extradition order and I did. Malka Leifer’s victims will eventually win a lawsuit. ”