Israel extradited to Australia on Monday (January 25th) Malka Leifer, a former ultra-Orthodox Jewish school principal accused of sexually abusing several of her students in that country, the Justice Department said.

A ministry statement "confirmed the deportation," after Israeli media reported that Malka Leifer, an Israeli, boarded a plane early Monday morning to Australia via Frankfurt, Germany.

According to Australian media, she faces 74 counts of sexual abuse of young girls.

Israeli news site Ynet posted a photo of her boarding a plane at dawn, handcuffed to her ankles.

His hands are not visible in the image.

This extradition comes a few hours before the suspension of international flights from and to Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, as part of new health measures aimed at limiting the spread of variants of the coronavirus.

Malka Leifer fled Australia in 2008 after a former student filed a complaint against her.

According to Israeli media, she lived with her family in the Israeli settlement of Immanuel, in the northern occupied West Bank.

She was arrested in 2018.

Diplomatic tensions

"I am sure that the judges are fine and will be convinced by the arguments presented by the defense on his behalf and that they will ensure a fair trial," his lawyer Nick Kaufman told AFP.

The case is widely followed in Australia and that could be a hindrance, the lawyer added, adding that "negative publicity" against his client could be an issue raised during the trial.

Israel authorized his extradition in mid-December after the Israeli Supreme Court rejected an appeal by Malka Leifer, ending a six-year legal battle.

"After many years, after an abject attempt to pass herself off as mentally ill and, in light of the Supreme Court ruling, it is our moral duty to allow her to be brought to justice," had said the then Minister of Justice, Avi Nissenkorn.

Welcome news.

Justice one step closer.

https://t.co/sgUhzq5eBQ

- Dave Sharma (@DaveSharma) January 25, 2021

The case had caused tensions between Israel and Australia, two allied countries.

"One more step towards justice," responded former Australian Ambassador to Israel Dave Sharma on Twitter.

"That Leifer could have escaped justice for so long is a joke," the Australian Zionist Federation said on Monday.

"While it is a relief that the Israeli justice system has finally prevailed, the time and procedure that resulted from the postponements are completely unacceptable."

With AFP

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