The Jerusalem District Court ruled May 26 that former school principal Malka Leifer, suspected of sexually assaulting students of hers in Melbourne, is mentally fit to stand trial. This opens the way for Leifer to be extradited to Australia. The court is scheduled to hold a second hearing July 20 to discuss her extradition. In parallel, her lawyer announced that Leier would  appeal the ruling to the High Court.

‘’The court has determined the defendant was simulating her inability to function and is fit to stand trial,” wrote the judges, adding that Leifer does not suffer from mental illness "in a legal sense."

Leifer, who holds both Israeli and Australian nationalities, fled to Israel in 2008 shortly after allegations against her surfaced. She faces 74 counts of child sexual abuse involving three sisters who were her students at an ultra-Orthodox Jewish school she directed. Australia demanded in 2014 that Leifer be extradited to stand trial in Melbourne, but her lawyers claimed that she was mentally ill and unfit to stand trial.

In 2016, an Israeli court ruled that Leifer was not fit to stand trial. But following the introduction of further evidence and more police investigation, the issue was examined again in 2018, when the court said Leifer was pretending to be mentally ill in order to escape trial. Over the years, the courts have convened for some 60 sessions on the issue.