Reports describe Leifer forcibly kissing her victim, who struggled to break free during the prolonged attack lasting several minutes. The assault victim, Samantha Azpardi, is a 36-year-old Aboriginal Australian currently serving a two-year sentence for fraud related to false claims of being a rape and human trafficking victim. Fellow inmates informed the media that the two women had maintained a prior relationship that deteriorated into conflict.

Leifer, who has eight children, remains confined to a secure prison wing with restricted privileges, including only 20 minutes daily for outdoor exercise or common area access. Despite her incarceration, prison authorities have granted Leifer certain accommodations within the secure facility, including permission to bake traditional challah bread and maintain a microwave in her cell.

The convicted rapist was found guilty of sexually assaulting students Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper during the period from 2007 to 2014, while they attended the educational institution under her management in Melbourne. Following the accusations, Leifer escaped to Israel, where prominent ultra-Orthodox community leaders provided protection and vigorously contested her extradition to Australia. She was ultimately extradited in 2021 and subsequently convicted on rape charges.

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The former principal of a Jewish girls' school in Australia was sentenced to 15 years in prison Wednesday for sexually abusing two students before fleeing to Israel to avoid persecution.

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Malka Leifer, 56, a Tel Aviv-born mother of eight, was extradited to Australia in 2021, where a court convicted her on 18 counts and acquitted of nine other charges, including five that related to a third student.

Video: Leifer was convicted on 18 counts in 2021 / Credit: Reuters

The three former students are all sisters. They had an isolated upbringing in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and received no sexual education, the court heard. They were around 12, 14, and 16 when Leifer arrived at the school from Israel in 2001.

Judge Mark Gamble said Leifer abused her position at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne and her "insidious offending" had scarred the sisters for life. Leifer is a "serious sexual offender" who had shown a "callous indifference" to the suffering of her victims, Gamble said.

Leifer fled to Israel after allegations were first raised against her in 2008. When she was charged in 2014 it triggered a yearslong tussle over whether she would be extradited.

She will be eligible for parole after 11 years.

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The former principal of a Jewish girls school in Australia was found guilty Monday of sexually abusing two students. Malka Leifer, 56, a Tel Aviv-born mother of eight, was convicted on 18 counts and acquitted of nine other charges, including five that related to a third student. The three former students are all sisters.

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Leifer sat with her head tilted, watching the jury, and did not react as the verdicts were read. The two former students she was convicted of abusing were in court for the verdicts. Leifer had earlier pleaded not guilty to all 27 counts.

Prosecutors claimed Leifer had abused the students between 2003 and 2007 at the Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox school in Melbourne where she was head of religion and later principal, as well as at her Melbourne home and at rural school camps.

Video: Ex-school principal found guilty of sexually abusing students in Australia / Reuters

After allegations were first raised against Leifer in 2008, she fled to Israel. When she was charged in 2014 it triggered a yearslong tussle over whether she would be extradited. She was brought back to Australia in 2021 following a lengthy extradition process.

Prosecutor Justin Lewis told jurors that Leifer tended to have a sexual interest in girls when they were teenage students at the school and when those same girls were student teachers. Lewis said Leifer engaged in sexual activities with them and took advantage of their vulnerability, ignorance in sexual matters, and her own position of authority.

Defense lawyer Ian Hill argued the lengthy delay between the alleged offenses and the trial, which began in February, was a disadvantage to the defense and to jurors. He attacked the credibility of the sisters, including accusing one of telling "blatant lies" in her evidence.

The sisters had an isolated upbringing in the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community and received no sexual education, the court heard. They were around 12, 14, and 16 when Leifer arrived at the school from Israel in 2001.

Lewis said the sisters had provided explicit evidence that they did not understand the sexual nature of what Leifer did to them. Leifer allegedly abused the eldest sister while they shared a bed at a school camp as the middle sibling pretended to be asleep in the same room. Jurors were told the youngest sibling had walked into a room while Leifer was abusing the oldest sister.

"Mrs. Leifer was one of the most respected persons in the community. If Mrs. Leifer was doing something then it must be OK," the youngest sibling testified about her reaction to what she saw happening to her sister.

The middle sister told the jury she had tried to form a relationship with another teacher to ask about what Leifer was doing, but Leifer discouraged her. Leifer "told me it wasn't healthy for me to have a connection with another teacher, to have more than one mentor," the middle sister testified.

The sisters gave evidence over two weeks behind closed doors, with the public and media excluded according to rules governing sexual assault trials in Victoria. Other witnesses included those the sisters disclosed their allegations to.

The middle sister first spoke to social worker Chana Rabinowitz in early 2008 in Israel. Rabinowitz said she asked the sister who hurt her and the young woman replied, "It was Mrs. Leifer."

Psychologist Vicki Gordon testified that she heard the youngest sister claim abuse by Leifer. Gordon told the court the sister claimed Leifer had explained the abuse was an attempt to overcome a lack of warmth and affection in the girls' family life.

Hill told the jury the sisters had revered Leifer and writings from their school years showed them thanking her for being supportive. Hill said the middle sister's story had changed several times since the allegations were made in 2008.

"Truth and reliability were lost in false accounts," Hill said. "Perhaps even at times hardened into false imaginations and false memories of false realities." He criticized the youngest sister for changing the location of alleged incidents from the girls' hometown of Melbourne to Israel.

"It's the wrong memory combined with the detail that shows you just how dangerous some witnesses can be when recounting a narrative to you," Hill said.

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Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit is weighing the indictment of Housing and Construction Minister Yaakov Litzman for meddling in the extradition of suspected pedophile Malka Leifer and the planned closure of a deli for health violations subject to a hearing, the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office informed Litzman's lawyers, Thursday.

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A member of the United Torah Judaism party, Litzman is alleged to have committed obstruction of justice and breach of trust. While a police investigation also raised suspicions of bribery, a decision was made not to prosecute him for this offense at this stage of the State Attorney's Office's examination of the materials.

Litzman is suspected of taking advantage of his previous role as deputy health minister to advance the interests of private individuals.

In the Malka Leifer affair, Litzman is suspected of working to ensure the Jerusalem District Court's chief psychiatrist walked back his determination the former high-school principal was fit to stand trial.

In another instance, Litzman is accused of aiding a deli that provided catering services. In 2015, the Health Ministry recommended revoking the license of a deli over serious health code violations that led some consumers to get food poisoning.

Litzman, who was known to shop at the deli in question and was friendly with its owners, agreed to help them continue to run their business without adhering to restrictions imposed on the deli.

In a statement, the Magen organization, which accompanied the complainants in the Leifer case, said: "We hope the message that the intervention by those in power and authority on behalf of sex offenders is wrong and constitutes an offense will resonate."

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The Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected an appeal challenging the extradition of a former teacher wanted in Australia on charges of child sex abuse, clearing the way for her to stand trial after a six-year legal saga.

Malka Leifer, a former educator accused of sexually abusing several former students at a Jewish school in Melbourne, has been fighting extradition from Israel since 2014. Leifer maintains her innocence and the six-year legal battle surrounding her extradition has strained relations between Israel and Australia.

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The Supreme Court justices said that the ruling finalizes "the decision of the appellant as extraditable" to stand trial in Australia.

The Justice Ministry said in a statement that the ruling "brings us one significant step closer to Malka Leifer's extradition to Australia" and that the ministry "will continue to make every effort to expedite Malka Leifer's extradition to Australia so that she may stand trial for the crimes she is accused of committing."

Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn praised the court's decision and said he would be signing the extradition order immediately.

"After long and tormenting years, the time has come to do justice with Leifer's victims," he wrote on Twitter.

Critics, including Leifer's alleged victims, have accused Israeli authorities of dragging out the legal process for far too long.

In September, a Jerusalem court approved Leifer's extradition to Australia after the country's highest court had upheld a ruling that she was mentally fit to stand trial.

Earlier this year an Israeli psychiatric panel determined that Leifer lied about suffering a mental condition that allegedly made her unfit to stand trial. As a result of the findings, the Justice Ministry said it would move to expedite her extradition to face 74 charges of child sex abuse.

Three sisters – Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer, and Elly Sapper – have accused Leifer of abusing them while they were students at a Melbourne ultra-Orthodox school. There are said to be other victims.

As accusations began surfacing in 2008, Israeli-born Leifer left the school and returned to Israel, where she has lived since.

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Malka Leifer, a former educator who is accused of sexually abusing several former students, has been fighting extradition from Israel since 2014. Leifer maintains her innocence and the battle surrounding her extradition has strained relations between Israel and Australia.

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Earlier this month, Israel's Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Leifer's attorney over a Jerusalem court's ruling that she was mentally fit to stand trial, saying it was "putting an end to the saga that has been drawn out for many years."

On Monday, the Jerusalem District Court ruled that Leifer could be extradited to Australia to stand trial for 74 charges of child sex abuse. The formal extradition now requires an order by Israel's justice minister.

Leifer's attorneys said they would appeal an extradition order to Israel's Supreme Court, saying it would be a "political decision."

"For those who think that this chapter is now closed, I'm sorry, the process will still last quite a few months more," said Nick Kaufman, one of Leifer's defense lawyers.

Critics, including Leifer's alleged victims, have accused Israeli authorities of dragging out the case for far too long.

State prosecutor Avital Ribner Oron said Leifer had made "every effort to avoid and delay the extradition proceedings" but that "today the court put an end to those efforts and declared her extraditable to Australia."

The ruling "was an important decision for the rule of law, for international cooperation, and most importantly, to the victims of Malka Leifer's crimes," Oron said.

Earlier this year an Israeli psychiatric panel determined Leifer had lied about suffering a mental condition that made her unfit to stand trial. As a result of the findings, Israel's Justice Ministry said it would move to expedite her extradition.

Three sisters – Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper – have accused Leifer of abusing them while they were students at a Melbourne ultra-Orthodox school. There are said to be other victims.

Meyer, Sapper and Erlich welcomed the news together in Melbourne.

"We can't stop smiling," Meyer told Nine Network television news, flanked by her sisters.

"There's just so many emotions flooding through us now – like, relief, excitement – we can't believe we finally got here," Meyer added.

As accusations surfaced in 2008, Israeli-born Leifer left the school and returned to Israel, where she has lived since.

Manny Waks, the head of Kol v'Oz, a Jewish group that combats child sex abuse and that has been representing the three sisters, said Monday's ruling marked "a great day for justice."

"It is a day which at times seemed like it would never arrive, but we are thrilled that it is finally here," Waks said. "It has taken 71 court hearings to get to this point. It has been Israel's shame."

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Rabbi David Stav, chairman of the Tzohar rabbinical organization, who has met with the Ehrlich sisters and spoken out repeatedly on their behalf said, "This decision is a critical step in addressing the impression that religious figures can never turn a blind eye to the pain of victims of sexual abuse.

"The efforts to keep Malka Leifer in Israel and away from an Australian court were nothing less than a desecration of God's name and a stain on our country's reputation for pursuing justice, so we can all hope she will now be held accountable for her alleged actions."

Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, who as Director of the Tzohar Center for Jewish Ethics has also written extensively about the caseת said, "Israel must never become a refuge for sexual abusers. We need to always act in partnership with all other nations in ensuring that these criminals are being brought to justice. Anything less would be gross negligence and is a failure for our national responsibility to act morally and ethically."

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Leifer, a former educator who is accused of sexually abusing several former students, has been fighting extradition from Israel for six years. The protracted legal battle over her extradition to Australia for trial has strained relations between the two allies.

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The judges unanimously rejected Leifer's appeal against a Jerusalem court's ruling in May that she was fit to stand trial, saying it was "putting an end to the saga that has been drawn out for many years" and that "now the time has come to decide on the request to extradite her person."

Critics, including Leifer's alleged victims, have accused Israeli authorities of dragging out the case for far too long.

Australia requested Leifer's extradition in 2014 on 74 charges of child sex abuse and more than 60 Israeli court hearings have followed.

Three sisters – Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper – have accused Leifer of abusing them while they were students at a Melbourne ultra-Orthodox school. There are said to be other victims. As accusations surfaced in 2008, Israeli-born Leifer left the school and returned to Israel, where she has lived since.

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Prime Minister Scott Morrison and President Reuven Rivlin discussed their "strong commitment to seeing justice" in the case of the former principal, Malka Leifer, during a meeting at Parliament House, officials said.

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An opposition lawmaker said Rivlin had offered to personally intervene in the case if progress is not made in court this week.

Leifer has been fighting extradition from Israel for six years and the legal wrangle to bring her before an Australian court has caused a diplomatic strain between the allies.

Rivlin has been criticized for declining an invitation to meet three of the alleged victims during his visit this week to the Australian city of Melbourne, where Leifer was the principal of an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school until 2008.

Lawmaker Josh Burns, who represents an electorate where the three alleged victims – sisters Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer and Elly Sapper – live, said he raised their plight when Rivlin held a meeting with senior opposition lawmakers.

The Associated Press does not usually identify alleged victims of sexual abuse, but the siblings have spoken publicly about their allegations.

"I was pleased that President Rivlin advised me that if hearings scheduled this week do not see this matter progress towards Malka Leifer being extradited to Australia, he will personally meet with the Chief Justice of Israel to discuss how this matter can be expedited," Burns said in a statement, referring to President of the Supreme Court of Israel Esther Hayut.

"This matter has dragged on far too long. These victims deserve justice and I will continue to fight until Malka Leifer is back in Australia facing trial," Burns added.

Rivlin's office did not immediately respond to a request for details of any undertakings regarding the case he had given during his visit to Australia.

Erlich wrote in a letter to Rivlin through the Israeli Embassy in Australia after the president declined to meet the siblings, "We did not wish to ask you to interfere with the judicial process, only that you use your authority to ensure this case ends in a timely manner."

"Sadly, the president has underestimated the importance of this case to the Jewish and wider Australian community and the supportive encouragement that such a meeting would produce," she added.

Manny Waks, Melbourne-based chief executive of Kol v'Oz, a Jewish organization that combats child sex abuse, said it was "regrettable" that the president could not find time to meet the sisters while in Melbourne.

"It seems President Rivlin has his priorities wrong on this trip," Waks told The Australian newspaper.

Neither Morrison nor Rivlin mentioned the case during brief public comments they made in Canberra, Australia's capital, before their bilateral meeting.

Morrison praised the "stridency of the judiciary" in Israel as one of the "great principles and values that underpin freedom" for which Israel stands.

On Leifer, Rivlin told Australian Jewish News in a recent interview that he was "confident that Israel does not allow those who have committed crimes to avoid justice."

"I understand how painful and difficult the case of Malka Leifer is for the Australian Jewish community and for Australians generally," he said.

"The professional opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Justice and the State Prosecutor's Office is that the extradition should be carried out as soon as possible and are doing everything possible to expedite it," Rivlin added.

Australia requested Leifer's extradition in 2014 on 74 charges of child sex abuse and more than 60 Israeli court hearings have followed.

The Jerusalem District Court last month granted Leifer's attorneys' request to review a psychiatrists' ruling that she is fit to stand trial for extradition.

Burns, the opposition lawmaker, and government lawmaker Dave Sharma, a former Australian ambassador to Israel, introduced a motion in Parliament earlier this month demanding Israel immediately extradite Leifer.

A date for a vote on the motion has yet to be set, but it is expected to be carried with the major parties' support.

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The panel's decision last week that found Malka Leifer fit to stand trial marked a major breakthrough in a years-old case that has strained relations between Israel and Australia and antagonized members of Australia's Jewish community.

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In its announcement, the Justice Ministry said the psychiatric panel had "unanimously and unequivocally" concluded that Leifer had faked mental illness in order to avoid extradition.

"The prosecution believes that the psychiatric panel's definitive conclusions have removed the obstacles that stood in the way of any significant progress in this case," the ministry said.

"The psychiatric panel's findings lead to the inevitable conclusion that over the past five years, the court and the mental health system have fallen victim to a fraud perpetrated by Leifer and her supporters."

Leifer faces 74 counts of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by three sisters who say they were abused while she was a teacher and principal at the ultra-Orthodox religious school they attended in Melbourne. In 2008, as the allegations surfaced, the Israeli-born Leifer left the school in Australia and returned to Israel.

After Australia filed an extradition request, Leifer was put under house arrest in 2014 and underwent the beginnings of an extradition process. But that ended in 2016 when a mental health evaluation determined she wasn't fit to stand trial.

Leifer was again arrested in early 2018 after police found evidence that she had faked her mental incompetence. The court asked for another psychological review, whose findings were announced last week.

In a statement, Leifer's lawyers accused the government of rushing forward with a decision before the legal process runs its course and said her human rights are being trampled because of "diplomatic considerations."

The repeated delays in the case have strained relations with Australia, one of Israel's closest allies. Leaders of Australia's pro-Israel Jewish community have also expressed frustration.

Those frustrations have been amplified by the alleged involvement in the case of Israel's ultra-Orthodox deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman. Israeli police have recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust against him for suspicions that he pressure ministry employees to skew Leifer's psychiatric evaluations in her favor. Litzman denies wrongdoing.

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The lengthy, Kafkaesque legal saga over the sex crimes suspect's fate has not only agonized 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.

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"When time and time and time again the process is just not moving forward, it's increasingly more difficult," said Meyer, 34, who lives in Melbourne. "Israel has an obligation to do the right thing."

Meyer and two of her sisters allege 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 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.

In Australia, Leifer now faces 74 charges of sexual assault related to accusations brought forward by the three sisters. A judge in a civil suit against Leifer, 53, and the Adass Israel School where she taught, awarded Meyer's sister more than $700,000 in damages. 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 legal 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 as well as in debates in Australia's parliament. Its twists and turns have exasperated some lawmakers.

"I do not doubt the independence and the integrity of the Israeli legal system, nor do I doubt the commitment of the Israeli Ministry of Justice to pursuing this case. But enough is enough. This case has gone on for far too long," Dave Sharma, a member of parliament for the ruling Liberal party and former Australian envoy to Israel told the Australian Parliament in October.

After Australia filed an extradition request, 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.

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. The court asked for another psychological review and she has since been held in Israeli custody.

Since her initial arrest, the court has heard Leifer's case dozens of times. At the last hearing this month, a panel of psychiatrists set to deliver its ruling on Leifer's mental state said it needed more time because it appeared the panel was unaware of the scheduled hearing. A new hearing is set for Jan. 14, but with a separate trial over her extradition yet to begin, and appeals expected, it's unclear when, if ever, Leifer will face justice in Australia.

"It's really difficult to verbalize how we've seen this case evolve. I'm really left speechless," said Manny Waks, an advocate on behalf of the victims who has closely monitored the case. "Just a lack of professionalism, incompetence."

Perhaps most damning has been the alleged involvement in the case of Israel's ultra-Orthodox deputy health minister, Yakov Litzman. Israeli police recommended charges of fraud and breach of trust be brought against Litzman for suspicions that he pressured ministry employees to skew Leifer's psychiatric evaluations in her favor. Israel's state prosecutor is expected to decide whether to file formal charges, though Litzman denies wrongdoing.

Both the Israeli Justice Ministry and the Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the Leifer case.

Leifer's lawyers warn that politics risks tainting the legal process.

"We call on all those related to the issue to act responsibly and to let the justice system in Israel, which is among the grandest in the world, carry out its work without prohibited pressure tactics," Tal Gabay and Yehuda Fried said in a statement.

On a first-ever visit by an Israeli leader to Australia in 2017, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel has "no better friend" than Australia and called the country's staunchly pro-Israel Jewish community "unusually committed" to the Jewish state.

But that support has started to crack in the wake of the Leifer proceedings. Australian Jews and community organizations have spoke out against the country's handling of the case.

"As each court appearance passes without resulting in an extradition order, further trauma is inflicted on the survivors and the integrity of Israel's institutions is undermined," said Anton Block, who recently stepped down as head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Meyer said having justice run its course is the only thing that will bring her closure.

"I expect Israel to send her back," said Meyer. "It's an expectation that if they don't fulfill, I don't have an understanding of how I'll move on."

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