Tel-Chai Nation

The court overseeing the case of Haredi child molestor Malka Leifer has wisely removed the leading psychiatrist who tried to shield her at Yaakov Litzman's behest from the review panel:

A controversial psychiatrist who presided over the psychiatric evaluation of alleged pedophile Malka Leifer will not be involved in a review panel set to rule on her fitness to stand extradition trial to Australia.

Judge Miriam Lomp of the Jerusalem District Court ruled on Sunday after a lengthy hearing that the head psychiatrist of the Tel Aviv district will appoint a panel of experts to review Leifer’s status, and not the chief Jerusalem district psychiatrist Jacob Charnes.

The decision is a significant win for the State Attorney’s Office prosecuting the case, due to the significant concerns about Charnes’s legitimacy in the Leifer case.

Since he took actions that violated public trust, and kept his connections with Litzman a secret, that's why Charnes disqualified himself from the position, and he practically deserves to have his license revoked. Doing everything he could on his part to make the system a farce, which did virtually zero to aid Israel's relations with Australia, warrants serious penalties, and he doesn't even deserve his job if he put it so far ahead of justice. Here's more:

...since being implicated in the corruption case, Charnes notified the court that he would not sit on the psychiatric panel he was asked to appoint.

But at Sunday’s hearing to further determine the makeup of the panel, Lomp agreed to the state’s demand that Charnes be barred from any involvement in the Leifer case. Instead, Tel Aviv District Psychiatrist Uzi Shai will select the members of the special medical board.

He was ordered to do so by October 23. The deadline for the panel to then hand down its recommendation is December 10.

They better make an assessment fast, one that'll favor the victims of the terrible crimes Leifer committed, and ensure she'll face justice Down Under.

Shana Aaronson from the Jewish Community Watch group, which has been involved in the case, told the Plus61J Australian news outlet that Kaplinsky’s appearance demonstrated “how the case has risen in terms of priority, in terms of public pressure and in terms of appearance.”

Kaplinksy told the judge that the extradition case, which started in 2014, has gone on for too long and must be concluded in a timely fashion. He explained that if Israel expects other countries to extradite its prisoners to it, it must do the same in this case as well. The defense, on more than one occasion, shouted Kaplinsky out and said that diplomatic affairs were not relevant to the case and should not be a factor in any decision.

Speaking to Plus61J, Aaronson praised Lomp’s decision to task the Tel Aviv district psychiatrist, instead of Charnes, with forming the pivotal psychiatric panel as “a step in the right direction toward justice, toward clarity and toward ethical decisions in this case.”

Charnes - along with Litzman - should be charged with conspiracy to shield a felon from justice. And Leifer's defense lawyers should be ashamed of themselves.

The Jerusalem Post supports extradition, and makes a crucial point:

The diplomatic ramifications, while disconcerting because Australia is such a reliable ally of Israel, are beside the point here.

What is truly outrageous and infuriating is the depth of the injustice in this case.

Israel is supposed to have a world-class legal system, yet one incident after another has eroded the public’s trust in the judiciary. The allegations of Litzman’s intervention, together with the dragging out of a decision about Leifer over the course of five years and no less than 60 hearings, has further undermined the public’s already shaky trust in our courts.

In this case, the courts and the Health Ministry have been nothing short of abusive, adding further trauma to the sisters who already allegedly faced humiliation and debasement at Leifer’s hands when they were defenseless children.

Leifer should be sent back to Australia where she can stand trial.

She should not be allowed to remain in Israel where she can hide. If she believes she is innocent, she should defend herself in court. If she is guilty, then she deserves to be punished to the full extent of the law, for both sexual abuse and her attempts to avoid its consequences.

Leifer’s alleged victims have been crying out for justice for over a decade. They deserve to see this process come to an end.

This is the same "justice system" that in past years sought to undermine Israeli sovereignty in Judea/Samaria. I suspect such incompetence as we've seen here stems from the same leftist mentality. Seriously. Mainly because they spent time undermining Israeli rule of law, while this case in past years was dealt with pathetically by sharp contrast. I should hope now, the court's contributors are going to act seriously and ensure Leifer's shuttled back to Australia, and a message sent that people from insular societies who commit repulsive crimes like she did do not have the "privilege" of being tried in Israeli courts or finding safe haven in Israel from non-Jewish justice representatives. Those who commit abominations that are contrary to God's positions in foreign countries cannot expect to be protected from them here at the expense of their victims.

Labels: Australia, haredi corruption, Israel, Knesset, misogyny, Moonbattery, political corruption