JERUSALEM – Israeli authorities on Monday extradited a former teacher accused of sexually abusing her former students in Australia, capping a six-year legal battle that had strained relations between the two governments and antagonized Australia's Jewish community.
Malka Leifer, who is wanted on 74 charges of child sex abuse in Australia, was placed on a flight early in the day, just hours before Israel was to close its international airport to nearly all air traffic due to a raging coronavirus outbreak.
Israeli media photographed Leifer boarding a plane at Ben Gurion Airport, her ankles and wrists shackled. Her lawyer, Nick Kaufman, confirmed the extradition.