Rivlin discusses Malka Leifer's extradition with Australia's David Hurley
Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn this week issued an order for Leifer's extradition to Australia.
By GREER FAY CASHMANUpdated: DECEMBER 17, 2020 19:08Israeli President Reuven Rivlin attends Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, to commemorate the victims of the Nazi dictatorship, in Berlin, Germany January 29, 2020.(photo credit: MICHELE TANTUSSI / REUTERS)
For much of his period in office, President Reuven Rivlin has had to contend with officials and Jewish groups visiting from Australia who consistently raised the issue of the extradition of Malka Leifer. She is wanted in Australia on 74 charges of sexual abuse against her students while she was principal of a religious Jewish day school in Melbourne.Australian Governor-General David Hurley was among those who spoke to him about the case when the two met in Jerusalem in January. It was a significant part of their conversation a few weeks later when Rivlin was Hurley’s guest in Canberra.Leifer’s extradition was a central issue wherever Rivlin went in Australia, and he is not the only Israeli dignitary who was questioned again and again about the drawn-out judicial process.Meanwhile, Leifer’s lawyers tried unsuccessfully in one court hearing after another to prove that she was mentally unfit to stand trial.All of these attempts failed, and Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn this week issued an order for Leifer’s extradition to Australia.Rivlin called Hurley to update him on all that has transpired regarding the case in recent weeks.
