Israel’s deputy health minister has been summoned for questioning by Israeli police on suspicion of obstructing the extradition of Malka Leifer to Australia to face child sex abuse charges.
Minister Ya’acov Litzman was questioned on February 14 over allegations of attempting to source psychiatric evaluations that would deem Leifer unfit to face trial in Australia.
The interrogation follows an investigation on The New Daily,
Israel’s Deputy Health Minister Ya’cov Litzman is being investigated for ethics violations over the extradition case of former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer.
According to local media reports, officials say the inquiry involved suspicions the deputy cabinet minister obstructed justice by trying to prevent Leifer’s extradition to Australia.
The Times of Israel reported Mr Litzman was questioned on February 14 after an investigation by the Israeli National Fraud Investigation Unit lasting several months.
Officials allegedly have recordings of Mr Litzman and other officials in his office speaking to health ministry officials, pressing them to act on Leifer’s behalf, according to The Times.
Victoria police want to bring Leifer, who was arrested in Israel in February last year, back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse.
The allegations are linked to her time as head of the ultra-orthodox Adass Israel School’s girls’ campus in Melbourne in the 2000s.
Read the article in The New Daily.