Israel’s Supreme Court Rejects Malka Leifer’s Appeal Against Extradition

JERUSALEM (VINnews) — The Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal by alleged child sex abuser Malka Leifer who sought to prevent her extradition to Australia. The decision effectively paves the way for Leifer’s extradition after a decade-long legal battle to enable the procedure. The extradition request will now be decided by Israel’s justice minister, Avi Nissenkorn, who announced Tuesday he would comply with the court’s ruling.

“I welcome the supreme court ruling to extradite Malka Leifer to Australia,” Nissenkorn wrote on Twitter. “After long and torturous years, the time has come to do justice to Leifer’s victims. I intend to sign the extradition order without delay.”

Leifer had initially claimed mental unfitness to stand trial but after police scrutinized her apparently normal lifestyle, she was rearrested. Despite this she has waged a protracted legal battle against her extradition, with more than 70 court hearings requested by her legal team.

Supreme court judges said their ruling on Tuesday finalised “the decision of the appellant as extraditable”, adding that “Those who think they can escape justice should know they won’t find sanctuary in Israel.”

Leifer, 52 and an Israeli citizen, is accused of sexually assaulting female students during her time as principal of the Adass Israel school in Melbourne’s south-east. Her legal team has denied the charges. Leifer fled Australia in 2008 under suspicious circumstances shortly before a warrant could be issued. Australia demanded her extradition in 2014.

Dassi Erlich, one of three Australian sisters who have accused Leifer of abuse, called the decision a “staggering conclusion to 74 court hearings”.

“Only one more step – Justice Minister Nissenkorn’s signature and Leifer is on the plane to Australia,” she wrote on Twitter.

Israel has been accused by activists worldwide of footdragging over the extradition order. Former health minister, Ya’acov Litzman, also faced accusations of interference in the trial. Litzman has denied any wrongdoing.

Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia that has been heavily involved in attempts to bring Leifer back to Australia, told The Guardian that the “arc of history has proven painfully long, but it did bend irresistibly toward justice”.

He added: “Although the final outcome is just, the delays and Leifer’s manipulation of the Israeli legal system have been completely unacceptable. The survivors of the abuse should never have had to wait this long.”