Israeli court date for ex-principal Malka Leifer

Fugitive former Melbourne principal Malka Leifer is due to return to court in Israel tonight over sex assault allegations.

Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer appears in an Israeli court.

Fugitive former principal Malka Leifer is due to return to court in Israel tonight over decade-old allegations that she abused girls at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne.

The flurry of activity has raised the hopes of Ms Leifer’s alleged victims that the stalled process to extradite her to Australia will be revived.

The former head of the Adass Israel school fled Australia in 2008 and has since been charged with 74 counts of child sex abuse believed to involve at least 16 girls.

Her lawyers have fended off efforts to extradite her to Australia by convincing Israeli judges that she suffered panic attacks and psychological paralysis that rendered her incapable of attending court, a legal requirement.

But Israeli police dramatically arrested her on Monday, alleging an undercover surveillance operation had shown she was leading a normal life.

Israeli prosecutors are expected to apply for the extradition proceedings to be resumed after Ms Malka appeared in a Jerusalem court last night on a charge of obstructing justice.

Israeli police have said there were “indications that the suspect was pretending to be suffering from a mental illness in order to avoid the extradition process”.

During the brief court appearance — her first in years — Ms Leifer, 54, attempted to cover her face.

She is expected to appear tonight in relation to the extradition case that all but collapsed last year, bringing to an end her home detention.