An Israeli court has granted bail to Malka Leifer, a former Melbourne headteacher wanted on 74 charges of child sexual abuse in Australia.
In a twist in the judicial saga that has dragged on for five years, Leifer is due to again be placed under house arrest. She was re-arrested just last year after police accused her of feigning mental illness.
Judges ruled the prosecution had until Friday to appeal the decision, which would have Leifer live at her sister’s house near Tel Aviv.
Manny Waks, founder of Kol V’Oz, an Israel-based organisation against child sex abuse in the global Jewish community, said the decision was “an absolute travesty and continues to bring shame on the State of Israel”.
“If Leifer is genuinely unwell, she should be held in a medical facility or jail where she can be appropriately cared for until her extradition to Australia is approved,” he said.
Dassi Erlich, an Australian who has accused Leifer of abusing her, said the news had left her reeling and was a “massive betrayal of justice”.
“This blatant disregard for the wellbeing of the Israeli community is outstanding,” she added.
Another alleged victim and Erlich’s sister, Nicole Meyer, said: “I am hurt by the State of Israel.”
Leifer’s lawyer has denied all charges against her. His client left Israel in 2000 to run an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls’ school in Melbourne but returned in 2008 after students raised allegations.
Many of the delays have centred around whether Leifer, an Israeli citizen, has been mentally fit to stand trial or be extradited. Last year, videos taken by a private investigator and shared with the Guardian appeared to show her living a “normal, healthy” life, and Israeli police re-arrested Leifer on suspicion of obstruction of justice.
If extradited, Leifer is expected to face charges including indecent assault and rape. The Jewish school that hired the principal was ordered in 2015 to pay more than $1.1m in compensatory damages.
The Israeli case has also been beset by suggestions of foul play. Israel’s deputy health minister, Ya’acov Litzman, who leads an ultra-Orthodox party, was accused of obstructing the extradition case. Israeli media have since reported he allegedly pressured doctors to falsify psychiatric evaluations that would deem Leifer unfit to face trial.
Litzman’s office has denied any wrongdoing.
