Media Releases

Statement

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) calls on Israel’s Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman to step down following news that Israeli police have recommended he be indicted on charges of fraud and breach of trust for offences including use of his office to illicitly provide assistance to alleged sex offender Malka Leifer. 

Leifer is a former principal of Adass Israel School in Melbourne currently under arrest in Israel who faces 74 charges of child sexual abuse in Australia.  

Israel’s police announced in February that they were investigating Litzman on suspicion that he had pressured officials in his office to alter the conclusions of psychiatric evaluations that had found Leifer fit for extradition. 

AIJAC welcomes this latest development and trusts it will lead to Leifer’s swift extradition back to Australia to face justice.

Dr. Colin Rubenstein AM, Executive Director, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council