Malka Leifer poses a flight risk and should remain behind bars until extradition proceedings conclude, Justice Anat Baron ruled, finding in favor of prosecutors' appeal against the Jerusalem District Court's Oct. 2 order.

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Leifer fled from Australia in 2008 with what Australian authorities believe was the assistance of the insular Adass Jewish community, after accusations against her surfaced.

A former principal of Adass Israel School, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish girls' school in Melbourne, Leifer is wanted by Australian police on 74 sexual assault charges, including rape, involving girls at the institution.

The district court ruled in 2016 that Leifer, who has denied the charges, was mentally unfit to face extradition and trial.

She was rearrested in 2018 after a police investigation raised questions about the state of her health.

Last month, the district court, in considering extradition, said more psychiatric evidence was needed before it could decide the issue, and ordered a new panel of experts to assess Leifer's mental condition and deliver a report in December.

In August, the Israel Police recommended indicting Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman on suspicion he tried to pressure court-appointed psychiatrists to support Leifer's mental illness claims.

It will be up to state prosecutors to decide whether to accept the police findings and charge Litzman, who has denied any wrongdoing.

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Litzman is suspected of having organized a panel of experts to issue a psychiatric opinion that would have allowed Malka Leifer, an ultra-Orthodox woman facing 74 charges of sexual abuse against minors in Australia, to evade justice by declaring her unfit for trial.

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According to reports, Litzman threatened state psychiatrists with dismissal if they did not rule in favor of Leifer.

In another case, Litzman is suspected of having tried to influence the detention conditions of another convicted sex offender in Israel.

Sources close to Litzman said in March that he was "under heavy pressure from rabbis to help Leifer."

Litzman, who was raised in Brooklyn, New York, has the title of deputy health minister only to avoid hurting the sensibilities of the ultra-Orthodox community, the radical parts of which do not recognize the legitimacy of a secular Jewish state, and serves as Israel's de facto health chief.

This article was originally published by i24NEWS.

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