Israel’s supreme court has overturned a decision to release alleged child sex abuser Malka Leifer to house arrest.
In a shock ruling last week, a Jerusalem district court announced that the former Melbourne headteacher wanted on 74 sexual assault charges in Australia should be released on bail.
The decision had strained relations between Israel and Australia following a long-running court saga that has already been been plagued by allegations of corruption and delays.
However, following an appeal by the prosecution to Israel’s highest court, judges decided that Leifer should remain in jail for the remainder of an already five-year long extradition case. In a ruling published late on Thursday, Justice Anat Baron said that Leifer posed a flight risk. The decision was greeted with relief by activists and his accusers.
Dassi Erlich, an Australian who has accused Leifer of abusing her, and who had criticised last week’s ruling as a “massive betrayal of justice”, welcomed the reversal.
“It was worth waking up at 4am to see this news!” said Erlich on Twitter.
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 important signal to those “who have been losing faith in the Israeli justice system”.
“Hopefully, the tide is changing, and Leifer will finally be held to full account – despite the desperate, immoral and alleged illegal actions by her powerful supporters,” Waks said.
Israel’s deputy health minister, Ya’acov Litzman, has been accused of obstructing the case. Israeli media reported that he allegedly pressured doctors to falsify psychiatric evaluations that would deem Leifer unfit to face trial.
Litzman, who leads an ultra-Orthodox party and comes from the same religious community as Leifer, has denied any wrongdoing.
Leifer, who has denied all charges, has been fighting extradition to Australia on mental health grounds since 2014. Despite being previously released on bail, Israeli police re-arrested her last year on suspicious of feigning mental illness.
