Malka Leifer, alleged sexual predator, finally extradited to Australia
The case is symbolic of Israel's status as a safe haven for wanted criminals.
By JPOST EDITORIALMalka 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(photo credit: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun)
After six years of endless court dates that seemed to stretch into thousands of hours and dozens of appearances, with appeals and lawyers fighting over every aspect of the case, Malka Leifer has finally been extradited to Australia.Extradited. That is what the case was about, not convicting her of crimes or litigating her actual case, just a routine extradition to Australia where she is wanted on 74 counts of sexual abuse against minors.It is a positive outcome that she has been extradited. It shows that justice can be done, even if it takes most of a decade. It shows that laws do exist, even if they take a very long, excruciating time to put in place. It shows that victims can eventually see justice, even if they grow into middle age while waiting. It shows that despite the best efforts of lobbies and politicians and agendas and vast financial sums, the wheels of justice and the state can reach a positive outcome.In this case, the outcome was to finally extradite someone to a friendly country. Australia is a close friend of Israel, and Israel should work with countries like this to make extradition faster and easier.It is in our interest to enable a smooth extradition of people, just as we want people extradited to here. We, of course, need to ensure that people receive the right to fight an extradition and to use the justice system in their defense, but not to manipulate it.It is important for the state to take sexual abuse seriously and pass laws and regulations that enable efficient extraditions. It is also important for the government to open a better investigatory department for people who may be fleeing to Israel, to make sure that they cannot easily use immigration or other means to evade justice abroad.Israel must have the highest and latest standards when it comes to protecting victims, especially children. We also need to educate the public about the evils of child predators and make sure that people understand they have a recourse to complain, anonymously if need be, to authorities to prevent being preyed upon at schools or other institutions.The Leifer case is symbolic of a larger problem in Israel. For many years, the country has been a place that suspected criminals fled to, and Israel has been accused of being a safe haven for wanted persons. It is unclear why the country has not taken these cases seriously, and instead basically opens its gates for people who are accused of being predators abroad, to run through and be free here.The recent case appears to shed light on how the state has often bent itself to appease certain communities, particularly the ultra-Orthodox, who, through political capital, have too many times tried to hide sexual predators. There are simply too many cases of sexual violence in the haredi community that are either covered up or downplayed by political and rabbinic leaders. This has to come to a stop.In the Leifer extradition case, the state underwent a torturous process. In 2008, she fled Australia, came to Israel and lived openly in a community here. She was allowed to remain because the state didn’t take any part of the process seriously for almost a decade.
When the legal proceedings finally began, the state accepted claims that she was unfit to be extradited, only revisiting the issue years later when recordings emerged of her apparently living a normal life. Victims had to campaign for a decade.Various excuses were rolled out during the extradition hearings, including more psychiatric experts being brought in to debate her mental fitness. Discussions were held as to whether Australia would provide the proper “religious” rights if there was a conviction there.This embarrassing case has shed a light on numerous problems within Israel’s slow justice system. While it is a welcome relief that Leifer’s extradition has finally taken place, there is no reason to justify why it took so long.The takeaway from the ordeal is that such a clear and simple case of merely sending someone to stand trial should not again serve as a reason for the state to wait 12 years to do what is right.
