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Dear President Rivlin

Re: Malka Leifer extra­di­tion case

We refer to your visit to Australia in late February, when you were welcomed whole-heartedly not only by the Aus­trali­an Jewish community but also by Australia’s political and business leaders, among many others.  You would have been able to exper­i­ence first-hand the enormous goodwill towards Israel that exists in Australia, as well as our respect and affection for you.

During your visit you were asked about the applic­a­tion that has been before the Jerusalem District Court since 2014 to extradite Malka Leifer from Israel to Australia to face 74 counts of child sexual abuse.  As you know, Malka Leifer’s lawyers have resisted her extra­di­tion, main­tain­ing that she is mentally unfit to par­ti­cip­ate in court pro­ceed­ings.

So many aspects of this case have become notorious: the unex­plained reversals of testimony by Jerusalem District Psy­chi­at­rist Jacob Charnes about Malka Leifer’s mental fitness; the recom­mend­a­tion by Israeli police that Yaakov Litzman be charged with manip­u­lat­ing psy­chi­at­ric evidence in the case while he was Israel’s Deputy Health Minister; the evidence that Malka Leifer has been malinger­ing; and the seemingly never-ending rounds of psy­chi­at­ric assess­ments.

As each court appear­ance has passed without resulting in an extra­di­tion order, further trauma has been inflicted on the survivors and the repu­ta­tion of Israel’s justice system has been tarnished. We are utterly appalled by the news that Mr Litzman may be Health Minister in the new Israeli gov­ern­ment, while the accus­a­tions against him con­cern­ing the ongoing Malka Leifer case remain unre­solved.

Some of Israel’s most pas­sion­ate sup­port­ers within the Jewish community and in the wider community in Australia have publicly expressed their dismay about the delays that have occurred, and other irregular aspects of the case.

During your visit to Australia you gave an assurance that  if hearings scheduled during the week of your visit did not see progress towards Malka Leifer being extra­dited to Australia, you would per­son­ally meet with the Chief Justice of Israel to discuss how this matter can be expedited.

Sadly, there has been no such progress.  Justice continues to be delayed and denied for Dassi Erlich, Nicole Meyer, Elly Sapper and Malka Leifer’s other alleged victims.

Even as Israel, Australia and indeed the world are focused on dealing with the Covid19 pandemic crisis, we appeal to you to make good on your pledge during your visit to Australia to make personal contact with the Chief Justice of Israel and do anything else within your power to discuss how this matter can be expedited and brought to a finality without further delay.  This is the unanimous desire of the organised Jewish community in Australia, and of Israel’s many friends in the wider Aus­trali­an community.  Justice demands no less.

Yours sincerely