Top pro-Israel body joins Australian groups in condemning Israeli minister accused of aiding pedophiles

A prominent pro-Israel group in Australia has joined a growing chorus of the country’s umbrella Jewish groups condemning Israel’s Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, who is alleged to have pressured officials in his office to falsify their psychiatric evaluations in which they deemed Malka Leifer unfit for extradition back to Melbourne, where she is charged with 74 counts of sexual abuse.

Responding to a query from The Times of Israel, the Australia/Israel Public Affairs Council says that it is “more than concerned by disturbing reports of alleged wrongdoing by Litzman.”

“Given that new elections have been called in Israel, we call on the acting Israeli government to immediately launch a full inquiry into the disturbing allegations regarding Mr. Litzman with a mandate to deliver its findings before the next Israeli government is formed. We also certainly concur that the results of that inquiry should be applied in determining the suitability or otherwise of Litzman for any future government appointment,” AIJAC adds.

The group stops short of calling for Litzman to step down from his position amid the ongoing police investigation into his actions. Such a demand was made last week by two other Jewish umbrella organizations in Australia — The Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

— Jacob Magid