AUSTRALIA
Times of Israel
July 28, 2020
By Jacob Magid
Community leaders freely express their discontent over lengthy extradition proceedings of accused abuser Malka Leifer, but say their Zionist roots have helped in weathering storm
The Australian Jewish community’s frustration with the State of Israel reached near boiling point in late February.
The breakdown centered around one woman, former high school principal Malka Leifer, who is wanted in Australia on 74 charges of child abuse. Many in the community saw Jerusalem as dragging its feet on an extradition process that has long been in the works. Some felt the Jewish state was even protecting Leifer from facing the charges against her in Australia.
In 2008, the 53-year-old Israeli mother of eight fled to Israel as allegations emerged that she had sexually abused pupils at Melbourne’s Adass Israel ultra-Orthodox girls high school. Police complaints against Leifer were submitted by three sisters in 2011, Australia filed for extradition in 2013, and Israel arrested her in 2014.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.