Leifer fled to Israel in 2008 when allegations she had sexually abused girls at the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel School in Elsternwick, where she was principal, were first raised. She is wanted by Victoria Police on 74 counts of sexual assault and rape involving girls.
The 50-year-old was arrested by Israel police in 2014 when Australia applied for her extradition, but proceedings were dropped when a psychiatrist found Leifer was unfit to stand trial.
She was released from her house arrest and ordered to undergo psychiatric treatment in Jerusalem.
Israel police re-arrested Leifer on Monday in the northern West Bank on suspicion of obstructing court proceedings and attempting to hide evidence in a case.
“A police undercover investigation has been underway for a month, following an Interpol request to investigate the suspect,” a statement translated by the ABC reads.
“During 2017 there were indications that the suspect was pretending to be suffering from mental illness in order to avoid the extradition process.”
“The female suspect will be brought to the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court to extend her detention.”
An alleged victim of Leifer’s successfully sued the former principal in the Supreme Court of Victoria in 2015 and was awarded $1.27 million in compensation.
The court heard the 28-year-old was sexually abused between 2003 and 2006 by Leifer when she was headmistress of the girls school.
The woman was allegedly abused at school, on camp and at Leifer’s home.
The former principal fled to Israel with her family in the middle of the night days before the allegations surfaced, allegedly with the help of senior members of Melbourne’s secretive Adass community.
Read the full article written by Ebony Bowden & Benjamin Preiss at The Age.