Drawn-out sex crimes case rattles Israel-Australia ties
JERUSALEM — Nicole Meyer endured years of sexual abuse allegedly at the hands of her former school principal. She has had to watch as her alleged abuser fled her residence in Australia for Israel, evaded justice for years and is now undergoing a protracted extradition process that critics have deemed a farce.
The lengthy, Kafkaesque legal saga over the sex crimes suspect’s fate has not only agonized Ms. Meyer but is testing the relationship between Israel and one of its closest allies, Australia. Malka Leifer’s case is still far from resolved, and even Australia’s pro-Israel Jewish community is losing patience.
“When time and time and time again, the process is just not moving forward, it’s increasingly more difficult,” said Ms. Meyer, 34, of Melbourne. “Israel has an obligation to do the right thing.”
Ms. Meyer and two of her sisters allege Ms. Leifer abused them while they were students at an ultra-Orthodox school in Melbourne, and there are said to be other victims. In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born Ms. Leifer, a trusted teacher and school principal in an insular religious community, left her position at the school suddenly and returned to Israel, where she has lived since.
The Associated Press does not typically identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault unless they grant permission, which Ms. Meyer has done.
In Australia, Ms. Leifer now faces 74 charges of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by the three sisters. A judge in a civil suit against Ms. Leifer, 53, and the Adass Israel school where she taught, awarded Ms. Meyer’s sister more than $700,000 in damages. Ms. Meyer and another sister settled out of court.
But in Israel, justice has been slow. Critics say the legal proceedings have been marred by needless delays and laughable hiccups and have even roped in a government minister in what has embarrassed the country in front of its stalwart ally.
The quagmire has driven a wedge between Israel and Australia, a country the Jewish state relies upon for diplomatic support against what it views as anti-Israel sentiment in international organizations. The Leifer case repeatedly comes up in discussions between the countries’ leaders and in debates in Australia’s Parliament.
After Australia filed an extradition request, Ms. Leifer was put under house arrest in 2014 and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn’t fit to stand trial.
Ms. Leifer was again arrested in early 2018 after an investigation claimed to have caught her leading a seemingly normal life, contrary to what she told the court she was capable of as someone with a mental illness.
Since her initial arrest, the court has heard Ms. Leifer’s case dozens of times. At the last hearing this month, a panel of psychiatrists set to deliver its ruling on her mental state said it needed more time. A new hearing is set for Jan. 14, but with a separate trial yet to begin and appeals expected, it’s unclear when, if ever, Ms. Leifer will face justice in Australia.