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How an Australia extradition case threatens Netanyahu

The alleged involvement of Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman in attempts to prevent the extradition to Australia of an ultra-Orthodox woman suspected of serious sexual crimes, threatens the political clout of Benjamin Netanyahu's ultra-Orthodox coalition partners.
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The Feb. 14 statement by the Israel Police regarding the interrogation of Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman at the fraud division sent a shock wave through the leadership of the ultra-Orthodox political parties. The police suspect that Litzman’s aides approached senior psychiatrists in his name and demanded, using threats, that they write an assessment declaring Malka Leifer, former principal of a school in Melbourne, Australia, unfit to stand trial. They allegedly did so to prevent Leifer's extradition to Australia, where she is accused of sex crimes against minors. Leifer belongs to the Ger Hasidic, the largest and most influential of the ultra-Orthodox sects and in which Litzman is a leading figure.

The investigation into Litzman has shaken his status as one of the three most prominent ultra-Orthodox political leaders in Israel, and if it leads to his indictment, the case could diminish his political power and perhaps even weaken the ultra-Orthodox camp as a whole. Even more, the case could have far-reaching consequences for the April 9 elections and beyond.

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