UTJ Yaakov Litzman signed a plea agreement with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Thursday, days before Mandelblit ends his term of office next week. Almost all charges against Litzman were dropped, including an obstruction of justice charge, and he admitted only to breach of trust in the Malka Leifer case. He had been accused of interfering in Leifer’s extradition process. Leifer was a principal of a Frum girls school in Melbourne who was accused of assaulting minors. The deal has Litzman paying a small fine of NIS 3,000 ($938) and receiving a suspended jail sentence. He will also resign from the Knesset but will not be branded with a moral turpitude charge, which would prevent him from returning to politics for seven years. Litzman announced last month that he was resigning from politics and will not be running in the next elections, in a move that he said was not connected to the charges against him. Litzman’s lawyers said that Litzman did not know Leifer personally and he intervened in her case only “in response to a request he received…and without any personal interest or motives.” “In all his years of public service, Litzman has worked for the good of the public and paid special attention to public requests in accordance with the law,” his lawyers stated. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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