Haredi Lawmaker Convicted Under Plea Deal Over Malka Leifer Affair
Former Health Minister Yaakov Litzman pleaded guilty to breach of trust in the sex abuse case of Malka Leifer, but is expected to remain politically active
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| Yaakov Litzman yukking it up in court in Jerusalem on Thursday |
The Supreme Court approved the plea deal of former Health Minister Yaakov Litzman on Thursday for breach of trust in the Malka Leifer case.
Litzman, of the United Torah Judaism party, retired from Knesset last week as part of the plea bargain signed with former Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and the Jerusalem Prosecutor’s Office. By resigning, Litzman evaded the court’s ruling on whether his conduct constitutes moral turpitude, which can only be made if he is still a lawmaker. As per Israeli law, such a ruling would forbid him from holding public office for seven years.
Under the lenient deal, he will also confess to committing breach of trust in the sex abuse case of Malka Leifer, a former school principal. Furthermore, he will be fined 3,000 shekels (about $900) and given a suspended sentence.
In the Leifer case, Litzman is suspected of attempting to thwart Leifer's extradition to Australia – where she is charged with raping and sexually assaulting her former students at a Jewish school – by pressuring the Jerusalem District Psychiatrist to change his opinion and deem her mentally unfit to stand trial.
In his statement released in January, former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said Litzman used his position as deputy health minister "with the intention of preventing or thwarting a judicial proceeding." By acting "contrary to the persecution and public interest," Litzman committed a breach of trust, he said.
The deal also includes closing an investigation into Litzman's alleged offering of perks to Health Ministry officials in order to keep them from shuttering a restaurant run by an associate of his, despite serious sanitation violations.
By leaving the Knesset, Litzman will be following in the footsteps of Shas Chairman Arye Dery, who was convicted of tax offenses as part of a plea deal in January.
Litzman said in December that he would not run for the Knesset again. However, UTJ sources said he does not plan to quit political activity and, like Dery, plans to attend his party’s Knesset meetings and run it from the backseat.