Australia’s campaign to have accused paedophile Malka Leifer extradited
A meeting with two victims of accused paedophile Malka Leifer, has prompted the federal government to call for the school principal to be extradited back to Australia to face justice.
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The Australian parliament has issued a strong statement of support for accused paedophile schoolteacher Malka Leifer to be extradited to Australia to face justice.
Two of Leifer’s alleged victims, sisters Dassi Erlich and Nicole Meyer, travelled to Canberra for meetings with senior politicians across the political spectrum.
Australia is campaigning heavily for Israel to resolve Leifer’s case and extradite her for trial, where she will face 74 charges of child sexual abuse.
The now 52-year-old former principal at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne fled Australia to Israel 10 years ago on the night she discovered sexual assault charges had been laid against her. She has been protected by the Orthodox community in Israel and has managed to delay her extradition for years, including through 60 court appearances arguing her mental health would not permit her to be returned.
The sisters’ local MP, Labor’s Josh Burns, and Liberal MP Dave Sharma, the former Australian Ambassador to Israel, jointly organised their trip to Canberra, and Ms Erlich and Ms Meyer met Prime Minister Scott Morrison along with other senior MPs.
Mr Morrison later described the two young women as “courageous’’ and vowed to continue to lobby Israel on their behalf.
“Their brave campaign for justice for the horrific allegations of abuse committed against them, and others, is to be commended and supported,’’ he said.
“We acknowledge how deeply traumatic and painful it must be for those having to revisit the hurts of the past, and we acknowledge the immense bravery of the victims in this case, and all similar cases.
“My Government is strongly committed to ensuring that justice is served in the case of Malka Leifer.
“This matter is currently before the justice system in Israel and we call for the matter to be resolved transparently and quickly. We also reaffirm our commitment to have Malka Leifer extradited to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse.
I have previously raised this commitment with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and will continue to raise this issue with the incoming Israeli leadership. The matter has also been raised frequently by Foreign Minister Marise Payne and the embassy officials.’’
Ms Erlich said it had been an “extremely long battle for justice.’’
“We’re here today to ask the Australian Government to do more. Enough is enough,’’ she said.
“This has taken a tremendous toll on both of our lives. I am travelling back and forth not seeing any results, the frustration of knowing at some point that she might get bail. It’s just had an emotional toll on our lives.’’
Ms Meyer said the sisters were not just campaigning to have their own matters resolved.
“We’re trying to give a message to all survivors that even if you have been abused life can go on. Justice should be served and we no longer need to sweep under the carpet and we want to stand strong on behalf of all others not just ourselves.’’
Ms Erlich said the sisters had received tremendous support from all levels of government and the wider Australian community, who were “just as outraged as us that this is still going on.’’
Mr Burns, the member for McNamara in Melbourne, said Malka Leifer must be returned to Australia for trial.
“Dassi and Nicole have spoken out because they have had the most awful, awful injustice committed to them. But they’ve spoken out so others don’t have to,’’ he said.
“This is about making sure that justice is done and that Malka Leifer is returned to Australia. It’s been over a decade since Malka Leifer has fled Australia and this has to end. Enough is enough. And today we send a clear message to our friends and counterparts in Israel that we will not rest — that we as Australians on both sides of the House will not rest — until Malka Leifer is returned to Australia.’’
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Mr Sharma, the Liberal member for Wentworth and former ambassador to Israel, had lobbied for the case to be resolved during his diplomatic posting prior to his election.
“Malka Leifer fled Australia in 2008 (when) she was charged with 74 separate counts of sexual abuse relating to her time as principal of Adass Israel College in 2013,’’ he said.
“We filed this extradition request in 2014 — I remember as I was the ambassador to Israel at the time and since that time five years have elapsed, there has been over 60 hearings in court in Israel and yet we seem to be no closer to having Malka Leifer extradited.
“Now I don’t doubt the independence and the integrity of the Israeli legal system but as my friend Josh Burns said enough is enough. We are here today to send a very clear message to Israel that this case is a high priority for Australia. It’s one we will be ceaseless in pursuing and it’s one that unless resolved soon will have an impact on the broader relationship.’’