An Israeli rabbi has withdrawn his support for former Melbourne school principal and accused child abuser Malka Leifer to be released on house arrest under his supervision while she awaits an extradition outcome.
Victorian police want to bring the 54-year-old, who was arrested in Israel in February, back to Australia to face 74 charges of child sexual abuse.
A lower court had granted Leifer to be released to home detention and Rabbi Yitzchak Dovid Grossman had offered to take care of her.
But while Israel's Supreme Court mulls over the prosecution's appeal of the release decision, Rabbi Grossman changed his mind.
"Last night, I notified the courts that I am completely withdrawing my involvement in the case of Malka Leifer, and my recommendation that she be placed under house arrest with my supervision," Rabbi Grossman said in a statement released on Monday.
Leifer has been ordered to stay in police custody in a medical facility while the Supreme Court considers the prosecution's appeal.
Her extradition is the subject of a separate court case.
Israeli prosecutors say she is feigning mental illness to avoid extradition.
Manny Waks, an advocate for Kol v'Oz a Jewish organisation combating child sex abuse, said Rabbi Grossman should also apologise to Leifer's alleged victims "for compounding their pain and suffering as a direct result of his words and actions."
