v There was frustration in the Australian Jewish community after a new delay in proceedings to get an alleged paedophile to face court.
Malka Leifer is accused of abusing girls from Melbourne’s Adass Israel School when she was headteacher.
She moved to Israel in 2008 soon after the allegations surfaced, and state lawyers have been trying for more than five years to begin proceedings for her extradition to Australia.
On Monday, activists campaigning for extradition arrived in a Jerusalem court, where the judge was expected to rule on whether or not extradition proceedings could start.
Instead, she postponed the decision. On the same day, Ms Leifer’s lawyer said that he will ask for his client — who is currently in prison — to be released on bail.
“How much more emotional pain?,” asked Dassi Erlich, one of her accusers, after the court decision.
Judge Chana Lomp said she was assembling a panel of psychiatrists to asses Ms Leifer’s mental health before she will reaches a decision.
Ms Leifer’s state of mind has become central in the case, because her lawyers say she is too unstable to face an extradition trial.
But police, state prosecutors, and her accusers, say that she is faking, citing undercover footage of her engaged in normal activities.
Numerous psychiatrists have already assessed Ms Leifer — in a process that has generated scandal.
Police announced last month that they suspect Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman tried to “improperly influence” state psychiatrists, who at one key point prompted the case to be put on hold for months by deciding that she is mentally unstable.
The Australian Jewish community expressed dismay when news broke of Mr Litzman’s alleged intervention — and have now expressed frustration at the outcome of the latest court hearing.
Anton Block, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry said that “further trauma” has been infected on accusers and “the integrity of Israel’s institutions is undermined.”