Israel high court denies house arrest for Australian suspect

JERUSALEM – Israel’s Supreme Court has upheld an appeal against releasing a former educator accused of sexually abusing her students in Australia to house arrest while she fights extradition proceedings.

Australia wants Malka Leifer extradited to face 74 charges of abusing students while she was principal at a Jewish religious school in Melbourne. Prosecutors say she is feigning mental illness to dodge extradition.

On Thursday, Israel’s Supreme Court overturned a Jerusalem court’s decision last week to grant Leifer release to house arrest “in order to give adequate response to concerns that the accused will flee or obstruct justice.”

Kol V’Oz, an Israeli advocacy group that fights child sexual abuse, called the court’s ruling “absolutely the right decision.”