Litzman resigns from Knesset as part of plea bargain

June 2, 2022 by TPS
Read on for article

Member of Knesset Yaakov Litzman submitted his resignation from the Knesset on Wednesday, part of a plea agreement he signed after he admitted to the breach of trust in the Malka Leifer affair.

Rabbi Yaakov Litzman

After 23 years in the Knesset and after serving as deputy minister of health for about a decade, Litzman submitted his resignation to Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy.

Litzman said after his resignation that he “concludes with satisfaction many years of in the Knesset, out of praise for the Creator of the world who has given me the privilege to serve the public with dedication and loyalty, out of ambition and mission to sanctify heaven and protect the sanctuary of Israel. I congratulate my colleagues of the Torah Judaism faction, my colleagues in the Shas faction and all my partners in the various factions, who worked together for the public in Israel.”

He will be replaced by Yitzchak Goldknopf.

Litzman signed a deal at the end of January in which he admitted that he an attempt to prevent the formulation of a psychiatric opinion that would lead to Leifer’s extradition to Australia to face charges of sexual abuse.

Litzman was accused of using his status and power to influence the legal proceeding in which the ombudsman for the Jerusalem District Court petitioned to declare Malka Leifer fit to be extradited to Australia for sexual offenses she allegedly committed there on minors at a school she ran in Melbourne.

Throughout the proceedings, it was argued that Leifer was unfit to stand trial due to mental health issues, and therefore the extradition proceedings against her should be stopped.

Following requests from Leifer in 2015, Litzman acted improperly to influence the district psychiatrist in the Jerusalem district at that time and cause him to change the opinion he provided regarding Leifer’s mental state.

At a later stage in the legal proceedings, in February 2018, when the state sought to resume the extradition proceedings, the district psychiatrist was asked by the court to submit his latest opinion on the issue. A few days later, Litzman summoned the district psychiatrist to his office once more and again sought to improperly influence his opinion on Leifer’s mental state, so that it would be determined that she was unfit to stand trial and therefore would not be extradited.

Leifer was subsequently extradited in January 2021 and is now facing charges in an Australian court. 

TPS

Speak Your Mind

Comments received without a full name will not be considered
Email addresses are NEVER published! All comments are moderated. J-Wire will publish considered comments by people who provide a real name and email address. Comments that are abusive, rude, defamatory or which contain offensive language will not be published

Got something to say about this?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Discover more from J-Wire

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading