Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made an “unlawful promise” to Australian political elders including John Howard and former deputy PM Wayne Swan to speed the extradition of accused sex predator Malka Leifer, her defence will claim in a last-ditch bid to scuttle her return to Melbourne to face trial.
The gambit turns on a meeting last October in Mr Netanyahu’s Jerusalem office where he told the high-powered delegation that Israel’s government would not stand in the way of Ms Leifer’s extradition if and when it was approved by local judges.
Following the granting of Australia’s longstanding request for her extradition on Monday by the Jerusalem District Court, one of Ms Leifer’s lawyers, Nick Kaufman, said Mr Netanyahu’s alleged commitment to send her on her way breached due process.
If Israel’s peak Supreme Court rejects Ms Leifer’s foreshadowed appeal against the extradition order, the final decision rests with Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn, whose approval is required to put her on a plane.
Mr Kaufman told The Australian that the Justice Minister’s pledge to “work to expedite” the process reflected the “undue influence” of Mr Netanyahu on the back of his illegal promise to the Australian dignitaries.
“The minister’s discretion to extradite is only exercised after an appeal procedure is exhausted and after he has heard submissions from the accused,” the lawyer said. “When the Justice Minister welcomes the decision of the District Court and announces prior to the appeal that he will do all in his power to speed up Malka Leifer’s extradition to Australia, then he is not, I submit, acting in accordance with accepted principles of administrative propriety.”
Read the article by Jamie Walker and Irris Makler in The Australian.