Australian Jewish group protests over handling of Malka Leifer case

A prominent Jewish organization in Australia admonished the Israeli government over its handling of the extradition case of Malka Leifer, a former high school principal wanted in Melbourne for 74 charges of sexual abuse of her students.

The Zionist Federation of Australia spoke out as police investigated allegations that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman ordered the drafting of a false psychiatric opinion stating that Leifer was not fit to be sent back to Australia to face charges against her.

“Leifer’s extradition has been a frustratingly drawn out process which has inflicted further pain and suffering on her victims. Their suffering has undoubtedly been compounded by this most recent allegation,” the group said in a statement Sunday.

“If these allegations are proven, Litzman has brought dishonour to the State of Israel and should step down as deputy minister and publicly apologize to the survivors of Leifer’s sexual abuse,” added the ZFA, an umbrella organization of pro-Israel groups.

The federation called for Leifer to be extradited “as soon as possible.”

Leifer, an Israeli citizen, fled to Israel in 2008, days before allegations of sexual abuse against her surfaced, following a heads-up from officials at the Adass Israel school in Australia where she taught.

After authorities in Melbourne filed charges against her, Australia officially filed an extradition request in 2012. Two years later, Leifer was arrested in Israel but released to house arrest shortly thereafter. Judges deemed her mentally unfit to stand trial and eventually removed all restrictions against her, concluding that she was too ill to even leave her bed.

She was rearrested last February following a police undercover operation that cast doubts on her claims regarding her mental state, and has remained under custody since. The operation was launched after the Jewish Community Watch NGO hired private investigators who placed hidden cameras in the Emmanuel settlement, where Leifer had been living, which showed the alleged sex abuser roaming around the ultra-Orthodox town without any apparent difficulty.

A bail hearing for Leifer is scheduled for Monday.

Her lawyer has argued that his client’s time in prison has led to the further deterioration of her mental state and that she should be released to house arrest as proceedings continue to draw out.

On Saturday, a legal official told The Times of Israel that police suspect Litzman, the head of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, met with Jerusalem’s district psychiatrist to pressure him into issuing a false assessment for an accused sex offender, thus preventing her extradition to Australia.

The official confirmed a report by the Kan public broadcaster, which pointed out that the mere fact of a meeting between Litzman, the de facto head of the Health Ministry and a key witness in the case against Malka Leifer during legal proceedings could constitute obstruction of justice on Litzman’s part.

After Leifer’s initial arrest in 2014, Jerusalem District Psychiatrist Jacob Charnes submitted two psychiatric opinions deeming her mentally incompetent, which led to her release. After Leifer was rearrested in February 2018, Charnes agreed to sign off, after months of delay, on a new medical evaluation that refuted his initial conclusion. However, in an about-face at the latest extradition hearing last month, he testified against the determinations of several medical experts that found Leifer to be mentally competent and once again asserted that she was too sick to be sent back to Australia.

According to the legal official, the deputy minister told investigators he held the meeting due to public appeals, and did not intervene in the process.

Litzman was questioned Thursday by police investigators over suspicions he sought to block the extradition of Leifer, a former principal at an all-girls school in Melbourne, who has been charged with dozens of counts of sexual abuse.

According to the legal official, Litzman threatened to fire medical professionals at the ministry if they did not write their report in Leifer’s favor.

One of the main pieces of evidence against the deputy minister was a threat by one of Litzman’s associates, who reportedly told a ministry worker that he would be fired if he “did not act according to the orders of the rabbi [Litzman].”

Confirming a Channel 12 report, the legal official said Litzman is also suspected of pressuring officials to change medical opinions in other cases involving sex offenders where people would stand to benefit. The report did not specify in what context these evaluations were being issued.

Associates of Litzman said Saturday that the allegations are “baseless.” They added that the deputy minister “made sure he did not intervene in the positions of professionals and told them to act only in accordance with the law.”

Leifer once taught at a school in Israel affiliated with the Gur Hasidic sect, of which Litzman is a member.