Ex-Principal Of Jewish School Who Fled Sexual Abuse Charges Arrested In Israel
Malka Leifer fled Australia for Israel after being charged with dozens of counts of sexual abuse. Image by YouTube
(JTA) — The former principal of a Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne who fled Australia for Israel amid allegations that she sexually abused students has been arrested in Israel following a police undercover operation to investigate her claim that she is mentally unfit to appear in court.
Malka Leifer, who is wanted on 74 charges of child sexual abuse in Melbourne, was arrested Monday and will appear in a Petach Tikvah court, where her detention is to be extended. Police said they will start the extradition process.
Leifer, the former principal of the Adass Yisroel girls’ school, has avoided court proceedings to seek her extradition to Australia with her claim of mental incapacity. Police began their operation a month ago at the request of Interpol to determine if she was mentally fit.
Leifer, who is in her 50s, reportedly has been living in the northern West Bank town of Emmanuel, where she was arrested. She fled Australia in 2008 shortly before she was charged.
“During the course of 2017, indications accrued that the suspect was pretending to suffer from mental illness in order to avoid extradition proceedings,” the Israel Police said in a statement. The investigation included “complex and sophisticated operations” and “advanced technological means” to gather information about Leifer’s day-to-day life.
One of her alleged victims, Dassi Erlich, and her two sisters said in a statement: “It is with a mixture of elation and relief coupled with anticipation towards the future, that we welcome the news of Malka Leifer’s arrest. We see this as a very important breakthrough in our long journey to achieve justice.
“It is shocking that claims of fraud and the feigning of mental illness have been used to evade justice for such a long time, but we are relieved that Malka Leifer’s arrest removes her from posing a potential threat to other vulnerable children.”
Erlich has been campaigning for Leifer’s extradition and met with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in October before his visit to Israel requesting him to discuss the case with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She visited Israel herself, meeting with members of the Knesset and the media.
In 2015, Erlich received one of the largest sexual abuse damage payouts in Australian history with the Victorian Supreme Court ordering the Adass Israel School pay her more than $750,000 for its failure to prevent the systemic abuse suffered by Erlich since she was 15.
Manny Waks, CEO of Kol v’Oz, an organization that addresses child sex abuse in Jewish communities around the world, said in a statement that he hoped the arrest of Leifer would lead to restarting the extradition process so she could face her accusers.
“Her arrest is a credit to the many people who have worked tirelessly to ensure that she will be held to account and can no longer be a potential threat to children in Israel,” Waks. “I’m especially happy for her courageous alleged victims.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30
