The victims of sexual predator Malka Leifer, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Thursday in an Australian court, said that former Health Minister Yaakov Litzman added to their suffering and should apologize.
Read more:
Leifer was found guilty of sexually assaulting two of her students, sisters Dassi Erlich and Elly Sapper, at the school she ran in Melbourne and between 2003 and 2007 when they were aged 16 to 19. In 2008, after she was suspended from her position and fearing an arrest after the sisters lodged a complaint with the local police, Leifer fled to Israel and was arrested here in 2012 and began a years-long court battle that she finally lost in 2021, when she was extradited to Australia to stand trial.
During her fight to avoid facing justice, Leifer was aided by then Health Minister Litzman who was found guilty of pressuring the ministry's regional psychiatrist to determine that Leifer was unfit to stand trial. He was convicted of breach of trust, sentenced to eight months of probation and a NIS 3,000 fine as part of a plea deal and was forced to resign from his cabinet post and the Knesset.
3 View gallery
Former Health Minister Yaakov Litzman in court after being charged with breach of trust
(Photo: Yoav Davidovitch)
In 2020, an Israeli psychiatric panel determined Leifer was lying about her mental condition, setting in motion the extradition. In December 2020, the Supreme Court of Israel rejected a final appeal against her extradition, and Israel’s justice minister signed the order to extradite her to Australia.
In an interview for Israeli radio, the sisters said Litzman's actions prolonged their suffering and he should apologize to them. Their sister told Ynet Litzman's involvement in protecting a sexual abuser was a betrayal of the victims and of anyone who trusted him and that he abused his position of power to cause so much more suffering.
3 View gallery
Sisters Dassi Erlich, Elly Sapper and Nicol Meyer leave court after Leifer sentencing
(Photo: William West / AFP)
Nicole Meyer, whose younger sisters were the victims of Leifer's actions said she felt she and her siblings brought the sexual abuse perpetrated by women to awareness in Australia, where few dare to complain. She said victims of such crimes have reached out to the family for support.