3 years ago
Malka Leifer went to her native Israel in 2008 after allegations against her came out. She was wanted in Australia on 74 sexual assault charges.
Though Ms Leifer denied allegations against her.The Supreme Court rejected her appeal against extradition and the justice minister said he has signed it off.
"More than six years have passed since a request was filed" for Ms Leifer's extradition, the Hebrew-language ruling said. Since then, "there is no proceeding that the appellant has not taken" to avoid being sent to Australia.
"Those who think they can escape justice should know they won't find sanctuary in Israel," it said.
Israeli Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn welcomed the Supreme Court's decision and said he would sign the extradition order "without delay".
"After long and tormenting years, the time has come to do justice," he wrote on Twitter. Ms Leifer is accused of sexually assaulting girls at the ultra-Orthodox Jewish Adass Israel School in Melbourne.
Australia tried to extradite her between 2014 and 2016, but the attempt failed after Ms Leifer was found mentally unfit for trial. Undercover agents later filmed her shopping and depositing a cheque at a bank, leading Israeli authorities to investigate and arrest her in February 2018.
Earlier this year, a panel of psychiatrists found that Ms Leifer was faking her mental illness to avoid extradition. Israeli prosecution lawyer Avital Ritner-Oron told KAN radio it could take few more "months" for Ms Leifer is extradited.
