Malka Leifer
Malka Leifer, a former Australian school principal who is wanted in Australia on suspicion of sexually abusing students, walks in the corridor of the Jerusalem District Court accompanied by Israeli Prison Service guards, in Jerusalem February 14, 2018. Reuters/Ronen Zvulun

Accused child sexual abuser Malka Leifer has been deemed fit to face her extradition hearing by Jerusalem’s chief psychiatrist. This means that the former principal of the Adass Israel School in Melbourne may be extradited to Australia to face her 74 child sexual abuse charges.

On Tuesday, the Jerusalem District Court received the recommendation signed by the District Psychiatrist, which states that Leifer is mentally fit to face the court. The trial would be to determine if she should be extradited to Australia.

Her legal team said it would contest the report on Nov. 14 when the case resumes in court. Lawyer Yehuda Fried even said that they would bring experts, including from Australia, to testify about Leifer’s mental state in court.

The Australian-Israeli is currently in a high-security women’s prison in Israel after she was re-arrested in February. Prompted by complaints from alleged victims, the police created an undercover operation to investigate Leifer, who had apparently been pretending to suffer from a mental illness to avoid being extradited.

Leifer is accused of sexually abusing multiple female students from the school she worked in from 2003 to 2008. She fled to Israel in 2008, thereby avoiding facing the 74 charges laid against her. Australia has since been asking for her extradition, but she had avoided being sent back to the country after court-appointed psychiatrists claimed she was too mentally ill to attend hearings.

Last year, she was photographed attending a religious festival in Meron, leading to police’s conclusion that she was only faking mental illness.

In March, the district court briefly considered releasing Leifer from police custody and into home detention. Rabbi Yitzchak Grossman previously claimed he would look after her if she was granted house arrest, telling the court that prison was “humiliating” for her.

However, following the outcry, the rabbi decided to withdraw his support. The Jerusalem District Court then ruled Leifer would remain in custody.

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