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(DRAMATIC PULSATING MUSIC)

(TRAIN HORN BLARES)

(SOMBRE VOCAL MUSIC)

(WOMAN PRAYS IN HEBREW)

(BAKING PAPER RUSTLES)

WOMAN: Even if I don't pray
three times a day,

I definitely have a very deep
spiritual connection to God.

I will just talk to God,
you know?

"Please, God, make the dough
work today,"

'cause of the one day
of filming,

I don't want the dough
to not work, things like that.

But, like, I will talk to God
at all different times.

It's the judges and the lawyers

and it's all the annoying people
who are doing all these things,

but God is running the world

and this is
what's coming from him,

so I have to accept that

and I think I'll feel that
way also about the verdict.

I will hope
that she's found guilty,

but that will test
my faith, for sure.

Yeah.

(GENTLE BIRDSONG)

NICOLE: My sisters and I are
each on such different journeys

in regards to faith,

and we just respect each other
where we're at.

-(CAT MEOWS)
-Good boy, Stormy.

Good boy. Leah's gonna
come pick you up now.

Good boy.

Oh, he's so scared. Poor thing.

(STORMY MEOWS)

I just wanted to let you know,

I'm really
struggling with, like,

really low blood pressure
at the moment,

so I've got some medication

that pushes up my blood pressure

and I'm gonna try
and time the medication

to fit in with the breaks
in court.

(VOICE FADES)
I'm just going to need somewhere

that I can lie down
with my feet up.

NICOLE: Whoa, Dassi,
that's close.

Chams, it's not that close.

NICOLE: You're, like,
half in this lane.

DASSI: You're being such
a side-seat driver today.

Do you want me to get out
and you drive?

-NICOLE: No, thanks.
-DASSI: I'm nervous.

NICOLE: Are you still waking up
in the middle of the night

and not being able
to fall back asleep again

or has that changed?

No, that's a...
that's a forever thing for me.

I always sleep better when me
and you and Elly are together.

NICOLE: Hey, we're five
minutes away from you.

I forgot my toothpaste,
my brush and my toothbrush.

Do you have a new one?

-ELLY: I should have.
-DASSI: And toothpaste.

Because I also
don't have toothpaste.

And toothpaste,
'cause Dassi didn't bring.

'Cause I was relying
on Chams's toothpaste.

-ELLY: Love you.
-MAN: Say, "I love you, Mama."

-She's too busy.
-Too busy.

Yeah, there's too many things
going on.

OK, alright.

I love you.

Love you too.

ELLY: Thank you for
taking care of everything today.

Danny and I did quite
a bit of preparation today.

He's not my therapist,

but I don't have a therapist
at the moment,

so he's doing all
the preparation with me

and he's really good.

-'Bye, Maddie.
-DANNY: Say, "Bye-bye, Mama."

-(MADDIE SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
-The bear goes to sleep.

-Bear goes to sleep.
-OK, that's OK.

Alright, love you.

DANNY: Bye-bye.

-ELLY: Hello.
-NICOLE: Hello.

OK, so put her in the back
next to you,

'cause there's no room
in the boot for that.

-I'm sitting like that?
-Yeah, that's fine. Perfect.

-ELLY: Yeah, OK.
-I'm sitting on this side.

ELLY: Alright. OK.

(CAR DOOR SHUTS)

(TRAFFIC HUBBUB)

ELLY: Nicole, Dassi and I

decided that to be in
the best headspace for trial,

we should rent a apartment
close to the courts.

O...3, right here.

We're actually doing this now.

DASSI: So that we can be there
to support each other,

but also so that we can
separate, as much as possible,

that trauma
from the rest of our lives

because we all knew that we were
gonna struggle with that.

Are you sure
we're in the right place,

and and this is not
someone else's place?

We all knew that
it had an impact

on our partners
or kids or friends.

We wanted to separate that
as much as possible.

Can I have this bedroom?

-Um, do you want to toss a coin?
-Should we work it out, Dassi?

There's three different
study spaces, which is great.

DASSI: We're not doing
any prep tonight.

No, I don't...
Are you doing prep tonight?

No. Until it actually happens...

NICOLE: But it's happening
this Tuesday.

-I know. I know.
-NICOLE: This Tuesday.

But in my mind, it's like,
"Maybe it's not for sure,"

so I don't want to get
into that headspace.

I feel you, but this now

has made it, like, one step
closer to feeling real.

ELLY: Being together
through trial and before trial

was the best decision we made.

That became our haven

away from all the horrors
of the courtroom.

-(SOMBRE VOCAL MUSIC)
-(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)

REPORTER: Ms Leifer,
do you have anything to say

to the alleged victims?

NEWSREADER: On to the case
of a school principal

wanted in Australia

for more than 70 counts
of sexual offences.

REPORTER: The allegations
dated back two decades

to Malka Leifer's time

as the head of the ultra-
Orthodox Adass Israel School.

NEWSREADER 2: Where she's
charged with 74 counts

of rape and sexual assault.

REPORTER 2:
Malka Leifer fled Melbourne

after the first allegation
surfaced.

REPORTER 3: Malka Leifer
has been holed up

in an ultra-Orthodox
settlement in the West Bank.

MAN: This was someone that's
actively pursuing little girls.

NEWSREADER 3: The ongoing fight
to extradite Malka Leifer,

straining relations
between the two countries.

REPORTER 4:
As the trial of Malka Leifer

gets underway in Melbourne,

the question is,

why did it take 15 years

to bring her to justice?

And what is the cost
to the alleged victims?

(SOMBRE VOCAL MUSIC FADES)

(SPARSE MUSIC)

DASSI: I grew up
incredibly isolated

from the world
outside of my community.

(TRAM BELL DINGS)

The Adass community
is based in East St Kilda.

It's around 250 to 300 families

that live almost
in a 4-block radius

and don't really go out
of that 4-block radius.

MAN:
Adass is its own little world

within the Jewish community

and even within
the Orthodox Jewish community.

Very, very insular.

It's a very fundamentalist
part of Judaism.

WOMAN: It has
very deep traditions

that bind family ties.

It's a insular, caring community

that takes care of each other.

WOMAN 2: Girls helped
around the house.

They got off school
two weeks early

before major festivals
like Passover

so they could clean the house.

Even when they were kids,

they were being geared up
to being wives.

Men and women were kept
completely separate,

in different schools.

ASHLEY: They would do
the absolute bare minimum

as required by the government -

very basic numeracy
and literacy -

but otherwise
it is entirely based

in Jewish text, Jewish learning.

Therefore, their exposure

and understanding of the world
around them is negligible.

They don't have internet at
home, don't have TV at home.

BEN: It's built on
secrecy, privacy.

Anything that arises, it's all
taken up within the community.

If you have a dispute, there's
no need to take it outside.

Everything is kept in-house.

-(SIREN BLARES IN DISTANCE)
-(TRAFFIC HUBBUB)

(UNEASY MUSIC RISES AND FADES)

So this is the, um, $9.20

that I have received
with my summons

for the Malka Leifer trial,

and that's for help
to get to the court

by tram or by public transport,
whatever I feel like.

So I'm feeling
a little bit rich.

Feeling a little bit rich today.

NICOLE: We haven't been
prepared in any way

how to speak on the stand
or told how to do this.

We've just been given
a page of charges.

It gives us the location or
the particular for each charge,

so whether it was
an office or at camp,

depending on each incident,

where the abuse happened.

And then I need to read
through my statement

and all the detail
has to be memorised

in chronological order.

So I'm just trying
to be comfortable

with saying words that I find
very difficult to say.

ELLY: I have a timeline
that I've drawn up

from the day I was born
until today

with any significant events
over the years,

and then I can visualise
the timeline

when I'm answering questions.

Especially with trauma,

there's just
so many details of events

that sometimes blur
into each other

and I just don't wanna get
overwhelmed

with the amount of questions

that are asked
in different ways.

(MURMURS)

DASSI: Because I know what it's
like to be in that headspace,

I'm just terrified
of going back there.

Like, I'm seeing her
in my head all the time

and I'm seeing what she did to
me again and again and again,

because I'm reading about
those incidents

again and again and again.

(DASSI CONTINUES MURMURING)

I don't even
have to close my eyes.

It's just constantly
playing there.

When I'm in there, I don't
want to be around anyone.

I don't want to be a parent.

My daughter's
staying with her dad.

But I need to get into that
headspace to be on the stand.

ELLY: I will go home soon.

I need to be a mum

and put this
to the back of my head

and be there for my daughter.

That's the most
important thing to me.

I just want to give her
the best version of me

and that's not with these...

..memories...

..being a dark cloud
over our time.

(SWITCH CLICKS)

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

NICOLE: My sisters and I
shared one room.

There was a bunk bed
where my two sisters slept.

I slept on a trundle
that was pulled out at night.

Above that were three shelves.

The bottom shelf

was all these little
miniature beds, bookshelves,

tiny little china plates,
forks and knives.

Plenty of times,
inserted myself into that world

because that world on that shelf

looked a whole lot better
than the one that I was in.

(CLOCK TICKS)

DASSI: The feelings that
I felt every single day

as a child - fear and hunger.

My mother was very abusive.

There was a lot of physical,
mental and emotional abuse.

My father supported my mother
in the abuse.

And he wasn't
a safe person himself.

ELLY: I just can't understand

how anyone could do
what they did.

That little me didn't deserve
that kind of pain.

School was a haven for us...

..in comparison
to our home life.

Malka Leifer chose vulnerable
people from complex backgrounds.

DASSI: I think
my first interaction with her

was when I was around 16.

And she pulled me into
her office and she said,

"I know about
the abuse at home."

She said
she wanted to support me.

There was nothing I wanted
to hear more in that moment.

ELLY: Someone had given me
a small amount of care,

asked me about me.

That casual conversation

made me feel like
a million dollars.

NICOLE: For me,
it was the connection.

As a child, always looking for

that kind of connection and
attachment and never had that.

I think that's what drew me in.

ELLY: There started to be touch,

a small touch,

just a hand on a shoulder
or a hand on the leg.

NICOLE: She would put
my hair behind my ear

or keep her hand
for a long time on my thigh.

That's how it slowly escalated.

ELLY: There was no reason
not to trust her.

DASSI: She's a leader
in the community,

equivalent to a rabbi.

There was this trust
that we wouldn't say anything,

but at the same time
we didn't know to say anything

because we didn't know
that it was wrong

and she knew that.

(PEOPLE CHATTER)

DASSI: In 2008, I was in Israel,

married to my ex-husband

and I was trying to understand

why it felt so wrong what
had happened with Malka Leifer

and I was trying to understand
why I was having thoughts

I was having,
the dreams I was having,

the flashbacks I was having.

CHANA: Dassi got married
to the person her parents chose,

pushed her into.

She had her hands on a computer
for the first time in her life.

It was my first kind of foray

into this world
outside of my community.

Landing up on
these sexual websites

that I didn't understand at all.

I was at the time really
struggling to get pregnant

and I thought, "Well,
God was making me infertile

"because I was looking up stuff
on the internet,"

and it was actually that

that led me to go see
Chana Rabinowitz.

Dassi's describing and feeling

that she was a bad,
terrible person

and that she needed
to be punished.

I just remember
that slowly built up

to ask her very quietly,
"Somebody hurt you?"

And I responded, "Yes."

She said to me...

.."You need to tell me
who it is."

And I said to her,
"I can't. I can't do that."

I mean, I had still such a huge
amount of fear of Malka Leifer.

I just remember her

going into herself
and whispering.

Hearing her reveal that it
was Malka Leifer was a shock.

Leifer brought me in

to do some work for
the Adass Israel School

while I lived in Australia.

I told her to call Nicole

and the next thing
I remember is, you know,

Nicole calling me up later
that night and saying,

"What did you say
and what's gonna happen next?"

And I remember just being
utterly terrified.

NICOLE: All I remember is
telling Chana Rabinowitz,

"It's true,
because she also did it to me."

And I had no idea
what was going to unfold

after I said those words.

CHANA: A woman who works
for the school

spoke to her daughter

who revealed to her that
she had also been a victim.

That woman then went
to the rabbi in the community.

That's when it opened up
and they believed it,

when it was more than
a few accusations.

Those allegations were then
taken to the school board

and the board met
at a private home.

At that meeting,

Leifer was confronted with
the allegations.

She denied the allegations.

The focus then became

to get her out of the country
as quickly as possible.

And within four or five hours,

she and some of their children
had left the country,

and that was facilitated
by the connections

of some of the board members.

REPORTER: This is
the Adass Israel Girls School

in inner Melbourne.

The Melbourne Adass community -

it's very small, ultra-Orthodox,

and is considered reclusive,

even by the wider
Jewish community.

Today that anonymity was pierced

when
the 'Australian Jewish News'

published reports
that the female principal

of the girls school,
Malka Leifer,

a mother of eight,
had been stood down

because of allegations
of improper behaviour

with her students.

ASHLEY: The source was someone
who knew the family

and was a parent at the school.

This guy was really emotional.

He was in tears at one stage,

and he was saying, "These girls,

"their lives have been destroyed
by this woman.

"They won't be able to marry.

"They'll be seen as unclean

"and not worthy
by the Adass community."

TED: At the meeting
of board members,

their first instinct
should have been,

"We have to report this
to police."

Their first instinct
instead was,

"We have to get Leifer
out of the country."

Shove it under the carpet,

send the problem somewhere else
away from the community.

That was the way
that it was done.

They wanted to protect
their community.

The president of the board

is a very responsible,
upstanding person

whose life has been...
(SCOFFS) ..so affected by this

and he totally believed

that they were doing the right
thing for the community.

WOMAN: If Leifer had have
remained in the country

and faced the music at that time

that the allegations
first came out,

we could have had
a different case.

Potentially done and dusted,
average two to three years.

May have had more complainants
come forward,

if they felt safe enough
to do so.

That moment in time

where they collectively
chose to send her overseas

instead of turning her in
to the police

or opening up an investigation

defined the next 15 years
of our life.

NICOLE: She possibly left Israel
to begin with

to come to the other side
of the world

because she was fleeing the fact

that she had abused
in that country as well.

WOMAN: We know that
she allegedly molested

at least one girl
in the school in Bnei Brak

and then we know
she moved to Melbourne.

(MAN SPEAKS
HEBREW)

(WOMAN SPEAKS
HEBREW)

(MAN SPEAKS
HEBREW)

They told her,
"OK, you need to move.

In the Haredi community,

that's how it goes.

If they move the abuser

to another school
or another city,

they know it is gonna hurt
another kid.

I assume there is at least
one, two or three people

in Australia that knew.

They're smart enough
not to ask the question.

DANIELLE: When the sisters
first made their statements,

they were so lengthy,
there were so many incidents.

All the girls did
such an incredible job

in providing their version
of events and their story,

especially to a stranger.

DASSI: I sat down with Danielle
in an interview room.

I didn't know how to say some
of the things I needed to say.

But she was incredibly
patient and kind

and I felt understood
and heard and believed.

NICOLE: When I gave
my police statement in 2011,

everything seemed so simple
and straightforward.

Papers to Canberra,
go and pick her up from Israel.

DANIELLE: No-one saw
that it was gonna take so long

to bring her back

and the lengths that she went to

to remain out of the country.

I was disappointed
that the system in Israel

hadn't processed
the extradition promptly,

but Israel
is a complicated place.

Its politics
is very complicated,

particularly within
the ultra-Orthodox communities.

DASSI: In 2014,

Elly and I decided
to travel overseas.

We were tourists exploring
this new land in this new way,

'cause we're both not religious
at the time.

By that time,
I had divorced Josh.

We had a brilliant holiday

and I remember sitting
on the beaches with Elly

drinking a pina colada

and suddenly hearing
that Malka Leifer

has been arrested in Israel.

REPORTER:
Six years after fleeing,

the law caught up with Leifer.

NEWSREADER:
Today, authorities in Israel

arrested Malka Leifer

over the alleged sexual assault
of students

at a Victorian
Jewish girls school.

The mother of eight is wanted
to face prosecution.

NICOLE: It came
so out of the blue.

Whose desk did that paper
land on that said,

"OK, go and arrest her now"?

I still don't even
know that properly.

She starts playing
the system immediately.

MAN: It was not easy
from the beginning.

The district court
would not even detain her,

and second,

she had really good lawyers,

very good lawyers.

(MAN SPEAKS HEBREW)

MATAN: Leifer was diagnosed
by the district psychiatrist

unfit to stand trial.

She actually did not show up
to most of the court hearings.

The court didn't grant
permission for her not to come.

She just didn't come.

MATAN: Each time,
she was hospitalised

a few days before
the court hearings.

She's not well the day before
she arrives at court.

Isn't that one plus one
equals two?

How could a judge, a senior
judge, not see through that?

DASSI: Nothing really changes,

just doesn't turn up
at court hearings.

The court hearings
can't go ahead

because that's
the law in Israel.

AVITAL: We were at an impasse.

It just kept on getting delayed.

REPORTER:
Malka Leifer has managed

to avoid seven court hearings,

with her lawyers
arguing that she's unwell,

suffering panic attacks
and depression

whenever a court date nears.

-(CHILDREN EXCLAIM)
-(BIRDS TWITTER)

(CHURCH BELL TOLLS)

WOMAN: There was one of
the Australian sisters

who lived here in Manchester.

She was visited
and really pressured

into somehow putting a stop
to this case going forward.

BEN: Family's all in Melbourne

and my sister Dalia
was in Manchester.

Dalia was a principal
of an ultra-religious school.

Highly religious
observant woman,

very well respected
and senior in her community.

A pair of fixers

came from Israel

solely to harass and threaten
Dalia and her family.

NICOLE: They would basically
make her life miserable.

They threatened her
with losing her job,

marriage prospects
for her children,

her name in the community,

if Dalia does not tell us
to drop the case.

YEHUDIS: If you're a boy and you
grow up in the Haredi community

and you're not the type

who's gonna become
a respected rabbi,

there's really, really
limited options,

but one of those options for
prestige is becoming a fixer.

SHANA: Not completely
unlike the political fixers.

It's a combination
of PR and bullying.

For a long time,
people blamed the rabbis

that the issue of sexual abuse

isn't being resolved
because of the rabbis,

but I think it's much more
about these fixers.

They have a tremendous amount
of power.

They spread
misinformation campaigns

in order to run the victims
out of town

or back them into
a corner usually

so that they will drop the case.

NICOLE: Even though
it was stressing her out,

she was not telling me,

"Stop what you're doing
because this is impacting me,"

but I could see it was really,
really, really stressing her.

DASSI: It was during
that same period of time

that Dalia started
suffering with chest pains

for the first time in her life

and ended up in hospital.

And then a week or two later,
she passed away.

YEHUDIS: That story is held
as kind of a cautionary tale.

"Look what happened to
the Australian sisters' sister."

You could have
that knock on your door

and nobody's heart can withstand
that type of pressure.

REPORTER: For almost
two years now,

Malka Leifer has managed to
evade extradition proceedings.

Finally, in 2016,

a judge decides that
she is actually mentally unwell

and she is not gonna
face justice.

REPORTER: Overnight,
an Israeli judge

ruled she was mentally unfit
to face extradition

and lifted
a home detention order

that had been in place
since 2014.

Malka Leifer
is now free in Israel.

REPORTER 2: Malka Leifer
has been holed up

in an ultra-Orthodox settlement
in the West Bank

hiding from her dark past.

NICOLE: Even after she fled,

there were allegations that
she had abused in Immanuel

during those years as well.

REPORTER 2: Daniel and his
daughter had lived in Immanuel

for several years

when, in 2016, the Leifer family
moved to town.

Leifer was by that stage
on the run.

Daniel says authorities
in Immanuel turned a blind eye

and alleges Leifer

was soon teaching and abusing
his daughter.

(MAN SPEAKS ENGLISH)

MAN: This was someone that's
actively pursuing little girls,

actively grooming them.

(WOMAN SPEAKS HEBREW)

(PHONE RINGS)

(CONVERSATION IN HEBREW)

(DOG BARKS)

SHANA: The community in Immanuel
is extremely ultra-Orthodox.

In some ways, even more insular

than some other
ultra-Orthodox communities

because its geographical
location, it's isolated.

A very large percentage of them

definitely do not have internet.

Large portions of the community
live under the poverty line.

MAN: I do believe that
the ultra-Orthodox community

breed child sexual abuse.

Why is that?

There is no sex education.

ELLY: There was no sexual
education in our school,

in our community, at home.

Kids are not even taught
the names of genitalia,

the words to use.

I didn't hear the word 'vagina'

until I had bridal lessons
before I got married.

BEN: It was just
such a taboo subject.

One would never speak about it

and one would pretend that
it just doesn't exist.

NICOLE: Sexual abuse is
completely compartmentalised,

stigmatised and packed away.

So when someone sees an abuser,

they don't see an abuser
and the impact on the victims.

They see a person
who's in distress,

who needs help,
who needs to be saved.

(MAN SPEAKS HEBREW)

You have therapists who operate
within the community

who will purport themselves
to be specialists

when they've read
a couple of books.

There'll be a specific person

whose specialism is
managing the sex offenders

and they will say, "Absolutely,

"we'll make sure
he goes for therapy.

"We'll make sure that he's
watched in the synagogue

"or we'll make sure that
she's not allowed to babysit."

Malka Leifer
is "babysitter" for two family.

When I see this,

I call this family

and say,
"You know this Malka Leifer?"

"No."

"You hear this problem
with girls?"

"No."

(EZRA SPEAKS HEBREW)

(TRAM BELL DINGS)

DASSI: Ben. Hello.

-BEN: Hello.
-ELLY: Hey, Ben.

-How's it going?
-Thanks for coming, Ben.

-Really nice to see you.
-Pleasure.

Can we, like, forget
about trial for a second

and, like, just eat dinner?

-I've really forgotten.
-(ALL LAUGH)

Place mats, place mats,
place mats.

We don't wanna get
the table dirty.

Thank you so much, Ben. This
is really of generous of you.

-Are you turning 30 this year?
-Yes.

NICOLE: That's
gonna be post-trial,

so we can really have
a nice celebration.

You're the youngest,
our baby brother.

DASSI: The last 30 in the family
until all our kids.

ELLY: Do you want
to have a dirty 30?

(ALL LAUGH)

All of my sisters have
this beautiful loving energy.

Every one of them, though,
loves differently.

And when I say
"loves differently",

they all love unconditionally
the same,

but they all express it
in their own way.

And Nechama's way
of expressing that

is being able to listen to you,

be a soundboard,
make sure that you're alright.

You won the first,
I won the second

'cause I haven't won in ages.

BEN: Anyways, guys, we are on.

NICOLE: No, no. You...

BEN: Dassi likes to banter,
great debates,

read books and chill, nature.

-Els.
-Yeah, this is very frustrating.

BEN: What's your thoughts
about putting something down?

I'm trying.

BEN: And Elly's
the youngest sister.

Just affection,
deep heart, loving.

Bubbling with all
those good energies.

(ALL EXCLAIM)

-ELLY: Oh.
-DASSI: OK.

Ben, I know we're not gonna talk
trial but trial started today.

You're gonna be in court
with Chams,

so you might wanna
prepare yourself mentally.

You're gonna be there on Friday,

so that's when
Ian cross-examines me,

so you're gonna hear, like...

DASSI: All the insinuations
of that,

"She's lying,
she's making it up."

Am I mentally prepared for it?
No.

But I support you guys
and always will.

It is gonna be brutal for
all of us and you're gonna...

Being our sibling,
you're gonna feel that

because you're close to us
and you love us.

And it's just pain
to be able to also see you

go through that turmoil
and to see you

go through all the anguish.

At the same time, it's also
good to be able to finally

be able to say,
"OK, we're here,"

and to uncover the truth
and to let the world decide.

NICOLE: Yeah.

BEN: My sisters are such
incredibly good people.

How we grew up,
you never felt safe.

There was times
that we were beaten,

times that we were
not given food.

ELLY: Our mother
withheld food from us.

Most nights
we didn't have dinner.

We often did have to steal
from other kids' lunchboxes.

I feel awful
even saying that now,

but I was hungry at school.

I was hungry at home.

I was hungry all the time.

BEN: My sisters
definitely helped a lot.

The moments that I really recall

was when Nicole
was already married

and I was still at home.

I was the only one at home

and I would go over
to Nicole's house.

She would give me food and
we would spend time together.

It was a very strong connection.

-DASSI: Thanks for coming, Ben.
-BEN: I love you guys.

Dassi, give me a hug.

So, about eight months ago,

I started a campaign

to bring awareness
to the fact that

she continues to avoid
extradition courts in Israel

and is living
a completely unrestricted life.

So in 2017,

I started campaigning
to bring Leifer back.

ELLY: Once we made the decision
to go public

and for the three of us to
put our face to the campaign,

it was all just, like,
go, go from there.

DASSI:
And the campaign took off,

and Elly, Nicole and I
decided to travel to Israel.

-Nechama. Yes.
-Nechama.

NICOLE: We just knew that
we needed to talk to anyone

and everyone
that would listen to us.

DASSI: This case has been in
the courts for a couple of years

and there's been
absolutely no movement.

I still have nightmares
and flashbacks.

I have nightmares that
she's gonna come into my room.

I have issues with my sexual
relationships with other people.

That bond and that ability
to keep pushing each other

really helped us
to get through those times.

DASSI: Having to continue
to campaign for justice

and share our story
over and over and over again,

I was literally
living in survival space.

REPORTER: It's been two years

since Malka Leifer
last appeared in court.

Her lawyers were there in person

and they claim two
of her alleged victims

may have consented
to what happened.

I ended up in a psych ward
about four times in those years

due to the stress
of the campaign.

Well, this is a case
that is fast making a mockery

out of Israel's legal system.

REPORTER 2:
44 court hearings so far.

REPORTER:
..been to court 45 times.

REPORTER 3: The case has been
adjourned until 21 September.

REPORTER 4:
Some pretty extraordinary

legal gymnastics...

REPORTER:
..adjourned until March

so that more psychiatrists

can be called on
to give evidence.

NEWSREADER: The ongoing fight
to extradite Malka Leifer,

straining relations
between the two countries.

MAN: Point of contention here
between Australia and Israel...

NEWSREADER: The Prime Minister
says the government

will be unswerving
in pursuing justice.

MALCOLM: I can't think of
another extradition case

quite like this.

This was a matter of
enormous importance to us.

50 hearings, 30 psychiatrists,

a complete frolic from the judge

and a farce of a process.

Probably after 10 hearings,
I'm thinking,

"I don't understand this."

(KEYBOARD CLICKS)

TED: We need Malka Leifer
extradited.

The indifference
that is being displayed

by the Israeli judicial system

is really child abuse
in its own right.

-(SOMBRE MUSIC)
-DASSI: Wow.

(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)

NICOLE: There was a bunch
of messages on that.

DASSI: OK. Yeah.

TED: They've all gone up?

People have come out here
to support.

It's just incredible.

It's triggering,
but this is the visible sign

for those that
can't come forward

to know that people understand
why they can't come forward,

but they're there
for them anyway.

It's making me emotional.

TED: When abuse becomes normal,

speaking up about being abused
becomes abnormal.

So it's a self-reinforcing
defect in a community.

DASSI: But when I started
the campaign,

I went to Ted Baillieu.

And he said to me,

"Dassi, if I can be of
any assistance,

"if there's anywhere
you need me to be,

"I will turn up
and I will be there for you."

Thanks for coming.

And anytime I asked him to
be anywhere, he would be there.

TED: The school's still
got stuff to answer for.

But the fact that
they didn't stop this,

that's already one step forward.

-TED: Yeah.
-NICOLE: Yep.

TED: Dassi sued the school
and a civil case followed.

Was overseen by now former
Supreme Court Judge Jack Rush,

and he presented
an incredibly damning report,

damning of Leifer,

damning of the school board

and awarded substantial damages.

We do know from the civil case

that previous allegations
had been raised

when Dassi's allegations
were raised.

The board had asked
to meet Dassi

because she'd sought
an apology from them.

And then the school board
messaged me and said,

"Who will you be bringing along
as your support person?"

And I said, "Just Ted Baillieu,
the former premier of Victoria."

First thing I said,

"Excuse me,
but if you don't mind,

"I'm going to record
this meeting,"

and I put my phone down
and put it on record.

-(PHONE PIPS)
-DASSI:

TED:

ABE:

They prioritised the welfare

of their relationship
with their insurer,

before the welfare of the kids.

DASSI:

ABE:

DASSI:

TED:

ABE:

They wanted to praise themselves

because they had stayed silent.

And to my understanding,

despite all the promises
in that meeting,

the apologies that Dassi sought
were never made.

(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK RAPIDLY)

DASSI: We feel frustrated
that this has taken so long.

It's important for us
to be here,

for everyone to see that

there are victims waiting
every day for this to end.

MATAN: Thinking about the moment
I would have to face them

and tell them it ended,

"There's nothing more we can do

"in order to extradite
Malka Leifer to Australia,"

I was very afraid
of this moment.

(GALLERY HUBBUB)

DASSI: We were stuck
with Malka Leifer

faking her mental illness
and getting away with it.

And we met Shana
and we said to her,

"We need to have proof
of Malka Leifer

"living her life that we can
take to the Israeli police."

SHANA: That was really
the only thing

that would really make
a difference in this case,

was bringing proof that
she was living a normal life.

And I just remember being, like,
"I think we could do that."

(LAUGHS) "That's something

"we actually could
probably help you with."

DASSI: She had spoken
to Meyer Seewald,

who was her partner at JCW,
Jewish Community Watch,

an advocacy group
for sexual abuse survivors.

There's definitely
a risk of immediate harm.

DASSI: And they had agreed to
pay for a private investigator

to follow Malka Leifer
for 10 days.

"Dear victims of Malka Leifer,

"I'm sorry for the pain and the
suffering that you went through.

"I'm sorry
for the revictimisation

"that happened to you
when people in the community

"helped her and not you.

"I want you to know
that my mission

"is to bring Leifer back."

It's been years and basically
no-one has done shit.

And we have connections to
Israel. Let's try to use them.

MAN: Shana from Jewish
Community Watch came to me.

She said, "Listen,
they have a medical statement

"that said that
she can't do anything."

What was described is that
she was so dysfunctional

that she could barely stand.

The psychiatrist described her
like a sack of potatoes.

TZAFIR: She talk
all day on the phone.

Talking and talking and talking.

Sunday, she went down
from her apartment

to the bus stop
with all her kids.

She was talking to them,
laughing with them.

She's strong,

taking all
her own grocery herself.

No-one help her.

(PEOPLE CONVERSE IN HEBREW)

(MALKA AND SHOPKEEPER
CONVERSE IN HEBREW)

TZAFIR: After three weeks,

we take all the videos

and give them to the police.

I sat with them for two days

to explain what we're seeing.

(LEIFER SPEAKS INAUDIBLY)

A simple private investigator

for five days following her

and we're able
to get all the proof

and no-one else could have
gotten this proof before?

-(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK)
-(PEOPLE CHATTER)

MATAN: Maybe I was
very optimistic,

but I believed that this
is going to be

a rather short situation

in which we come to court.

We say, "This woman lied.
She was faking her illness.

"Here are the movies."
And everything solved.

And it just didn't work
that way.

(YEHUDA SPEAKS HEBREW)

Lawyers for Malka Leifer argue

she's mentally unfit
to face a trial,

despite an undercover police
sting revealing otherwise.

Malka Leifer has been in
a high-security prison here

for more than a year.

NEWSREADER: 10 years have passed
with no end in sight.

NICOLE: We were fighting
against something

that was bigger
than it should be.

Obviously she's being
protected by her community

but not just that,
it's more than that.

There were people in Israel

who definitely did not
want her extradited.

This lady's gotten away
for years. How?

I'll try to speak in English

because I was a dropout
in high school.

That's why I became a minister.

(LAUGHTER)

For us in Israel, the main
story was not Malka Leifer.

The main story
was Yaakov Litzman.

Israeli police
have recommended

a senior minister

be charged for
allegedly interfering

in a Melbourne
child sexual abuse case.

REPORTER: The country's
deputy health minister,

who's from the same religious
sect as Malka Leifer,

appeared to have interfered
with the extradition,

by pressuring
state psychiatrists

to find she was mentally ill.

AARON: I spoke with sources
who told me this,

Australian Haredi community
of Malka Leifer

raised a lot of money.

I mean, millions and millions
of dollars to help Malka Leifer.

And they use it to get one
famous rabbi here in Israel

and one famous PR guy,

and according to my sources,

they have influence
on Yaakov Litzman.

This was an extreme misuse

of governmental power.

(IN ENGLISH) Good morning,
everybody. Welcome to Israel.

DASSI: We do know that he did
instruct the psychiatrist

to falsify the medical records

and ensure that Malka Leifer

was never found
to be sane enough

to continue
extradition proceedings.

And according
to Israeli standards,

Malka Leifer cannot be trialled
here in Israel.

Then by definition,

Israel cannot send her
back to Australia.

NEWSREADER: Israeli police say
there is sufficient evidence

for Litzman to be charged
with fraud and bribery.

(PROTESTERS CHANT IN HEBREW)

I attribute at least three years

of re-traumatisation to Litzman.

(PROTESTERS CONTINUE CHANTING)

It feels very deeply betraying,

particularly of someone
ultra-Orthodox and religious.

(SOMBRE VOCAL MUSIC)

(MEN CONVERSE INAUDIBLY)

(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICK RAPIDLY)

REPORTER: A huge development
in the Malka Leifer case.

REPORTER 2: A panel of
psychiatrists in Jerusalem

has ruled that Malka Leifer

has been pretending
she is mentally ill.

REPORTER 3: This decision
means Israeli authorities

can proceed to
an extradition hearing.

(MATAN SPEAKS HEBREW)

REPORTER: Israel's Supreme Court

rejected her appeal
of an extradition order.

Malka Leifer will finally
fly back to Australia.

MAN: It's an absolute
momentous occasion.

Today we have just heard
Judge Lomp rule

that Malka Leifer
is fit to face justice.

Dassi, Elly and Nicole,
please, the floor is yours.

We are so incredibly
happy and excited.

We've been fighting
six years for this.

We can't stop smiling.

There's just so many emotions
flooding through us now.

SHANA: Every single victim that
comes forward in a public way,

there's just a huge dent

that gets made
in the wall of silence.

Do you actually realise
what this means?

Like, she's coming back
to Australia.

SHANA: Dassi, Nicole and Elly

took that to a whole nother
level in terms of exposure.

They fought really hard

and they advocated
for themselves

in a way that I had never seen
anybody advocate for themselves

before on such a public scale.

(JET ROARS OVERHEAD)

When I learned that

Leifer was being extradited
back, absolute elation.

REPORTER: She was photographed
getting onto a plane,

which is reportedly headed
for Frankfurt, in Germany,

before she'll
be flown to Australia.

DANIELLE: And being
in the height of COVID,

each country
had their own restrictions,

so it was a bit of a mad rush
to get her out of the country.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

(PHONE CHIMES)

DASSI: Fuck! Oh, my gosh.

I am shaking.
I'm literally shaking.

I believe you.

When's the last time
you've eaten?

All of a sudden,
a photo popped up

on my WhatsApp group

of Leifer getting onto the plane

and I literally could not
breathe for half an hour.

Like, literally,
I felt like someone

was constricting my oxygen.

Not just hearing
about it.

Actually
seeing her,

this person
that's dominated

every single waking moment,

sleeping moment of my life

for the last 13 years
is actually...

Yeah, it's...too surreal
to even...to even contemplate

and to even try and explain

to anyone else
other than my sisters.

REPORTER: Malka Leifer
touching down on Australian soil

for the first time in 13 years.

I need to hear that nothing
happened to her on the plane

and she actually
walks off the plane

and then to put it
into words again.

From 2008 till now...

..it's 13 years,
it's a whole lifetime.

DASSI ON PHONE:

OK. OK. OK.

OK, so...

It wasn't Victoria Police's
jurisdiction

in any of the other countries.

The moment the wheels landed,
turned to her,

"You're under arrest
for sexual abuse allegations

"in relation to Hadassa Erlich,

"Elisheva Sapper, Nechama Meyer.

"Don't have to say
or do anything.

"Do you understand?"

Grunted at me. Multiple times.

NICOLE: Dassi, you've literally
got to change the hashtag

to "LeiferIsBack".

DASSI: I'm just gonna write,

"Leifer has arrived
in Melbourne."

Just write,
"She's touched down."

DASSI: Something like that.

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

DASSI: ..police cars there.

NICOLE: Yeah,
but then there was one

further back, there.

REPORTER: She was
driven off the tarmac

at Tullamarine last night

and into police custody.

I think the minute
she landed in Australia,

it was a very physical sensation
of her being in close proximity.

I feel we're connected again,
not in a good way,

but my whole body felt it.

(POLICE RADIO CHATTER)

(TRAM BELL DINGS)

(TRAFFIC HUBBUB)

NICOLE: They've just taken out
paragraphs upon paragraphs.

Half of this page is gone.
Most of this page has gone.

For the first time, I wavered
on my ability to do this.

I got a phone call last week

and the prosecutor let me know

that they are redacting
a large part of my statement,

from the day I got married
until Malka Leifer left in 2008,

which is a year and a half.

I asked her why.

I will not find out the reason
until after trial.

But I'm assuming just the age,
consent, perhaps.

If I was married
and I should have known

that she was abusing me.

But abuse is not just the sexual
abuse, it's the emotional,

it's the mental,
it's the coercive control.

So it just feels like
a complete invalidation

and misunderstanding
of abuse and power.

I finished Year 12 and started
teaching directly under her,

and she abused me
for six and a half

out of the seven years
that she was here.

She was part of my wedding day,

and she abused me

throughout all of that
year and a half.

I got married in August 2006
and became pregnant.

Did not make any difference
to the level of abuse.

She was a big person,

and I was so conscious

of her big body on top of
my body, squashing my baby.

The instinct to protect
my child is what stopped me

from being alone with her in
a room again in that position.

But it continued for
the next year and a half.

There are no charges
for that time,

and that cannot be spoken about
at all or it will be mistrial.

In a way,
it feels almost like I'm lying

'cause I'm stopping
at a certain point.

If it's not my whole story, then
why should I go up on the stand?

(SOLEMN MUSIC)

How many court hearings,
for real?

How many court hearings
have we had?

74 court hearings in Israel.

And then another bunch
here as well.

At least 20 here.

This is the justice
that we were waiting for.

-We can do this, guys.
-We can.

-Hug. Aw!
-On camera?

(CHUCKLES)

I'm gonna cry.

No.
Elly, you're so not crying now.

-You're so emotional.
-(LAUGHS) I'm so emotional.

You'll be emotional
for all of us.

-Yeah.
-OK, OK, shush, shush, shush.

I just need to read through
my charges.

No, no, no, don't ask me.
I just need to read my charges.

DASSI: Yeah,
don't read it now, Chams.

-You've done your...
-I'm scared I forgot something.

DASSI: You've got it all.
You know, it's in your memory.

You're not gonna know
every single detail.

Like, that's impossible.

Our memory
doesn't work like that.

(CAR DOOR CLOSES)

-OK.
-Breathe.

-Just remember to breathe.
-Keep on breathing.

OK.

-(PEDESTRIAN SIGNAL TICKS)
-(QUIET CHATTER)

DASSI: Just sitting here
together and...

ELLY: Starting to feel
the anxiety a bit of...

-Yeah.
-..Nechama being on the stand.

We know she's absolutely
giving evidence now.

DASSI: It's just starting
to feel a bit...

-ELLY: Overwhelming.
-DASSI: Overwhelming.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

NICOLE: It's huge
to acknowledge abuse

that happened two decades ago,

trying to describe incidents
that happened 17 years ago,

and it's so confronting.

I just need to remember
to ask for breaks,

to go really slowly,
and to just try and see him

as just an old man
who cannot get under my skin.

We heard very specific details
about the offending.

How Malka Leifer
would groom the girls.

How she would develop an initial
relationship with them,

then isolate them.

And then they went
into really granular detail

about the offending itself.

Malka Leifer would
remove their clothing

and remove her clothing,
touch them in various ways.

It was really, really
quite challenging to listen to.

The central defence strategy
of Hill

appears to be that the evidence
might be contaminated

because of collusion,

that they've shared stories
with each other

over the course of the abuse

and that's contaminated

everybody's recollection
of the abuse,

which means that the evidence
is tainted

and that the jury should
take that into account

when they're determining guilt.

NICOLE: Ian literally
said to me outright,

"You are constructing
this story."

He said,
"I want to suggest to you

"that nothing happened
in Year 11 and Year 12.

"I want to suggest to you

"that she did not
assault you at all,

"altogether, in all the years."

That was what he was doing
throughout the entire day.

So it really chips away
at your story.

In sexual assault trials,

it's one person's word
against another's

or three people's words
against another's,

and they're the ones essentially
having to prove their case.

They are essentially on trial.

Malka Leifer's not sitting
in the witness box

being cross-examined
and she doesn't have to.

That is her right
under this system.

DASSI: You're done.

-I know.
-DASSI: Can I keep punching you?

You can keep punching me, but
I'm just not feeling anything.

I'm just so, like, in shock.
I'm literally in shock.

DASSI: I know, I know, I know.

(SPARSE MUSIC)

NICOLE: Today
was absolutely brutal.

Saying so openly about rape and
how she did it and positioning,

it's just been the most
massive day of my life,

and to be honest,
there's parts of me

that feel that they don't want
to live till tomorrow.

(BREATHES SHAKILY)

(SPARSE MUSIC)

-LEAH: This is great.
-DASSI: I know, I told you.

-LEAH: It's colour by number.
-DASSI: You don't have to think.

You're not sitting there
thinking,

"Oh, what should I paint?"

You're literally just
following something

that's already decided
where you're gonna paint.

We'll take an Uber from here.
We'll go to the court.

And then I'm on,
and this is the first time

that I'm gonna have to give
my evidence in chief,

which means I have to talk
through all my statements.

LEAH: Mm-hm.
And what do you need?

Like, what's good for you?
Do you like to just...

Just a hug, I think,
to calm my nervous system.

OK. Alright.

It was so difficult to
support Dassi through that.

You have got the power
in that room, and I've told you,

you're the most resilient
human I know.

I was constantly
questioning myself,

wondering whether I was actually
saying the right things.

I think
once I get on the stand...

-You'll be brilliant.
-..and I start talking...

LEAH: I found it impossible
to emotionally detach myself

from what the sisters
were going through.

All I wanted
for them was relief.

I've taken my meds,
but I'm taking my meds with me.

ELLY: Yeah,
if you feel yourself dropping...

Otherwise I'll crash
after four hours, yeah.

ELLY: Yeah. Very good.

NICOLE: And lunchtime,
get something to eat.

I might not need
every half an hour break.

NICOLE: She doesn't think
she can eat,

but you'll have to force
yourself to have something.

LEAH: I could feel
her mental health,

the roller-coaster of it.

I can always tell
Dassi's going through stress

when she starts speaking even
more quickly with less breaths.

What's your heart rate?

What's yours?

-83.
-61.

-So high.
-But you're not...

(SPARSE MUSIC)

DASSI: It was torture
to be cross-examined.

Effectively on trial,

because that's what
it's like to be a witness.

You are on trial.

My whole life was open
to being subpoenaed,

my medical records, messages
between myself and friends,

so that they could use it
against me on the stand,

which is what they did,

putting to me
over and over again

that I was lying,
that I had made this up.

The first time
that she touched me...

..she had taken me out of school
and to her home

for an afternoon
to have private lessons.

And I remember her coming home

and checking to see
if her husband was home,

realising that she had
the house to herself

and locking the door and
telling me to go to the couch.

She said to me,

"This is what a mother
that loves you does,

"and I'm like a mother to you."

Not having had any experience
of what a loving mother does,

there was a time
that I believed her.

I didn't know
how to make sense of it,

and I remember going back
to school and just wondering

what on earth had just happened
and why had it happened.

I just wanted to literally get a
blanket and pull it over my head

and just be like,
"Go away!" to everybody.

NICOLE AND ELLY: Yeah.

And then, like, instead,

I have to sit there
and talk more

and talk about more things
that are horrific.

ELLY: In detail.

In, like, the most detail
that you could ever think of.

NICOLE: ..that you've ever
spoken to someone about.

-Yeah.
-ELLY: To a room of strangers.

Exactly.

ELLY: The whole process is
massively re-traumatising.

-FRIEDA: Hello, Dassi.
-DASSI: Frieda!

FRIEDA: How are you?

-Entrez-vous.
-Whew!

-It's been a long day.
-WOMAN: Hey.

You look pretty good for
someone who's just endured...

DASSI: This has literally
taken over my life,

and that's why I just wanted
to come here

and just have some time,
like, away from all of that,

'cause my whole family is just,
like, filled up with that drama.

Have you ever
wanted to be a lawyer?

DASSI: No, but I keep being
told I should be a lawyer.

DASSI: Henry is Josh's father.

Him and Maralyn, his wife,

I hadn't really known them
when I was married to Josh

because they weren't religious

and we didn't have
a lot to do with them.

MARALYN: When do you think
this will be over?

Like, can you see an end
of the...

-DASSI: They said six weeks.
-Six weeks?

DASSI: I hadn't actually seen
Frieda, Henry's sister,

at all since my wedding,

but she came to visit me
while I was in hospital.

They were just incredibly
supportive people

and continue to be to this day.

MARALYN:
Now, this has literally...

DASSI: In 2011, I was in
a psychiatric hospital

with my daughter,

suffering from really bad
postpartum depression.

I'm self-harming
and I'm suicidal.

It was my first exposure
to actually sitting down

having conversations with people
outside of my community.

I really struggled
with this idea

that I had been taught
throughout my whole life

that I was superior to them
because of the way I lived

and the way I covered my hair
and the way I dress.

And if that was wrong,
then what else was wrong?

(PENSIVE MUSIC)

CHANA: Sadly,
perhaps not for them,

but, I think, for the community,

Nicole's the only sister

still an active part of
the Orthodox community.

And I say 'sadly' because the
community failed Elly and Dassi.

Even when the revelations came
out, they weren't supported,

they weren't apologised to,
they weren't...

They weren't cared for.

ELLY: I'm gonna vomit.

I'm literally scared
of my mind going blank.

DASSI: If you're going blank,
ask for a break.

NICOLE: I brought you,
just, like, a few caramel

and two other chocolates
if you just need something sweet

to give you a bit of energy, OK?

-ELLY: Thank you.
-So I've got that for you.

DASSI: You have to eat something
that has protein.

I'll see how
I feel in lunchtime.

-Yep. Yeah.
-ELLY: OK. Should we go?

-NICOLE: Yeah, fine.
-OK, let's go.

DASSI: Els, you need a plan
for the weekend,

something nice to do together,
you and Danny, you really do.

I can babysit Maddie on
Friday night or Saturday night.

But you're gonna need that
after this intensity.

I think it's really hard
on Danny.

NICOLE: Yeah, I think so too.
I...

I'm feeling for him, but I know
that he's... He's OK, but...

-DASSI: He is, he will be OK.
-NICOLE: He's solid.

And you can't think
too much about him.

He's your support person.

ELLY: I understand defence
lawyers are there for a purpose.

However, my experience
being cross-examined by him

was...I...I felt degraded.

I haven't shared things

that have happened
with my father

because I don't have
the mental capacity

to deal with
that particular event.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

Ian insinuated that
because of previous things

that happened at home
with my father

that I understood what sex was,

and therefore what happened with
Malka Leifer was consensual.

He wanted me to crumble.

DANNY: I think you...
you withstood

some of the worst cruelty

I've ever seen.

I mean, the judge jumped in
and said, "You can't say that."

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

ELLY: It got to me that Leifer
was there listening. (SIGHS)

(SOMBRE MUSIC CONTINUES)

That was one of the most
traumatic things

that I've ever experienced
in terms of re-traumatising.

There's just no humanity.

How do we get to a point where
one can do that to another?

It's so cruel.

Just got to pretend like
these things don't happen,

and then my body
takes a hit from it.

Which is probably why
I...can't get pregnant.

(UNEASY MUSIC)

NICOLE: They're all aware
of the story,

they all see it in the news, and
nobody wants to come forward.

I was so angry this morning.

Like, I was getting
so angry about the fact

that people
can get up on the stand

in support of Mrs Leifer

and not have to worry
about the community.

And the community will... "Oh,
the community will understand."

-And they won't...
-NICOLE: And support them.

But if anyone dare
to stand up against her

or dare to stand up
on behalf of us,

immediately
they'll be ostracised.

Just getting so angry

about those twisted,
twisted values

and how they've made
no progress to support victims.

NICOLE: They can't handle it.

I don't have anger,
even for Malka Leifer,

because anger doesn't serve me.

I just have a disappointment
in the lack of enough growth.

The community as a whole hasn't
moved far enough for me yet,

and that's what I'm
deeply disappointed in.

People don't realise
that by being silent,

they're actually enabling.

Oh, gosh, guys, here it is.

We weren't allowed to
discuss any form

of what we said in our evidence,
giving the evidence,

but also,
for the rest of the trial,

we weren't actually allowed to
watch the proceedings together.

Ha. He didn't let him
finish the question.

He's also leaving
the jury hanging

with that particular information

'cause it's the second time
he's brought it up now,

to show that I read Dassi's
statement when I never did.

We each sat in our own room...

(SCOFFS)

..listening to the trial,
but having to kind of, like,

scream across the rooms
and say things here and there

in order not to be,
I guess, in contempt of court.

DASSI: It doesn't make
any sense, and I think

it's the most ridiculous thing
in the world,

but here we are,
each watching it.

We can talk about it,

but we just can't
watch it together

on the same screen.

The next witness is up. Goodbye.

(HOPEFUL VOCAL MUSIC)

Hi. My name's Danny.

I was just hoping to
chase down a result, please.

Thank you so much.
Appreciate it.

-Do you have it?
-DANNY: I do, but...

Do you have... Did you hear it?

I didn't hear it.
Didn't hear it.

Whatever it is,
it's going to be OK, yes?

-Mm-hm.
-OK.

Yay. (LAUGHS)

-It's still in...
-It's hard not to be excited.

NICOLE: After suffering
secondary infertility

for two years

and having had
four pregnancy losses,

I became pregnant.

-It's good news.
-It is good news.

(SNIFFLES)

I remember thinking,
"This isn't the right time,"

at the same time thinking
this little life

would give me the strength
to get through trial.

She's not gonna
take it away from us.

No.

DASSI: We basically found out
that two of the charges

relating to Elly
might be dropped

because of a quirk in the law.

The legislation
changed around the time

that the incidents happened.

ELLY: Guys, here we go.
The news.

"Two charges against
former Melbourne principal

"Malka Leifer dropped

"as abuse trial nears end."

NICOLE: Does it say why
in the article?

ELLY: Of course
that's the headline.

NICOLE: Mm-hm. Fucking hell.

ELLY: It just makes it seem
like she was acquitted.

It says my name and then
the rest of it's just ramble.

NICOLE: Yeah, and 'The
Australian' just literally says,

"Accused paedophile principal

"found not guilty
on two charges."

That's the whole fucking...

I knew that would make
the headlines like that.

And the jury has to be
smart enough to take all that in

and everything the prosecution
says, and the defence,

and then come back somehow
with some guilty verdicts.

-But it seems so impossible...
-It does.

..for them to overcome
all of that.

ELLY: That's true.

NICOLE:
Els, how was your appointment?

DASSI: Could you hear
the heartbeat?

-Yeah.
-Did you get another picture?

-DASSI: Did you take a video?
-Yeah, took a video.

-NICOLE: Can we listen to it?
-Yeah.

But it's a bit, like, scratchy.

-NICOLE: That's OK.
-DASSI: Doesn't matter.

(HEARTBEAT PULSES
OVER WHITE NOISE)

-NICOLE: Definitely hear it.
-DASSI: Oh, my gosh, Els.

NICOLE: That's beautiful.
Can I see the picture?

-This is the blob.
-DASSI: Can I see?

Wow.

ELLY: So it's just, like,
it's starting to get...

-You know, it's starting to...
-All clear.

-Can I see?
-ELLY: All clear, yeah.

ELLY: So we're gonna have
weekly scans,

and then, at 10 weeks now,
they can find out the sex.

-NICOLE: Are you going to?
-ELLY: Yeah.

DASSI: Can we get home
as fast as possible?

My blood pressure
is crashing really badly.

Like, I might faint.

And that would really not
be good.

They keep repeating how brutal
it's going to be,

and we know that, but when
they keep repeating it, it...

Just hearing Ian's voice
during all the arguments,

he comes across
as someone so intelligent,

and then he puts these absolute
statements forward.

Yeah, that's what scares me.

ELLY: Yeah.

That was the first time
that I heard everything

that happened to you and
everything that happened to you.

(SIGHS)

DASSI: Thinking about
going into hospital.

Old coping mechanisms
are coming up,

self-destructive
coping mechanisms.

I'm using up energy I don't have

to fight these
self-destructive urges

because the feelings
with all of this trauma

is so overwhelming.

NICOLE: Dassi, I'm terrified.

What if I didn't do
a good enough job?

I'm so scared.

I can see that
you're very scared,

but you gave your evidence,
you did the best that you could.

He's finished his fricking
closing arguments,

like, finally.

You're gonna be in
such a state of anxiety

the whole time
that the jury is deliberating

if you keep thinking like that.

I know, but I only have
five charges,

but they were redacted
a huge part of my statement,

and they redacted bits
in my statement.

DASSI: If they find her guilty

that something that she did
for me or Elly,

then why are you lying about it
but we're saying the truth?

We think like that, but the way
that Ian put it to them today

and the way that they're
trying to discredit...

DASSI: The argument's stupid.

Yeah, but are the jury
smart enough to think that?

DASSI: The jury either believes
us or they don't believe us.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

NICOLE: OK. Moving out of the
Quest today. Missing you, Els.

We'll send you this after.

This 3-, 4-day hiatus
might actually,

I don't know, maybe it'll
help us mentally reset,

but I don't really think
it will.

And we're just going
to be waiting for deliberation.

Yeah, moving back home and not
sure how I'm feeling about that,

but we are leaving
the Quest now.

Don't really have
much else to say.

I can see.

'Bye. I don't think
the 'bye' got on there.

We'll send it to Elly

and then she'll just get
a sense of where we are today.

I think she'll appreciate that.

I can send her
the bloopers as well.

Then they'll give her
something to laugh about.

DASSI: She's resting today

'cause she had surgery yesterday

and she is recovering
from that this morning.

What are you writing?

"Thank you.
We enjoyed our stay here."

I would've written more, but my
handwriting's a bit too shaky.

-Got it?
-Yep.

NICOLE: Let's just make sure
we check in with each other.

Do you want to make time
for coffee tomorrow or Friday?

I have no idea how I'm
gonna be feeling tomorrow.

NICOLE: Do you think
it's going to feel weird

not living together now?

DASSI: Yeah.

NICOLE: I think we'll just
end up calling each other,

like, 10 times a day.

DASSI: Back to usual life, hey?

-And we managed quite well.
-DASSI: We did.

Like, we didn't have any,
like...

DASSI: Did I drive you
too much insane?

No, not at all. Did I drive you?

DASSI: Slightly, at times.
(LAUGHS)

-In regards to what?
-DASSI: No, you really didn't.

You were actually really good.

NICOLE: How are you feeling
about the exposure and all that?

Going out, people are just
gonna, like, recognise you.

That, for me, is something
I'm struggling with.

I'm not ready to step
into the community,

simply because
trial's not finished yet.

There's no verdict.

We still have, you know,
all those days of waiting.

Even if I stay home and far away
from people as much as possible,

it's just a whole different
level of exposure.

It's not that, like,
I'm embarrassed

of what's out there,
because I'm not.

It's just the way that Ian
has said stuff

and the way it's come out in
the media, it just feels so...

-DASSI: Horrible.
-..not the truth.

So, what, do I just say,
like, goodbye to you now?

-This is so weird.
-DASSI: I know.

-This is really, really strange.
-DASSI: Like, goodbye.

I know.

-OK, well, actually, goodbye.
-(LAUGHS)

-Actually goodbye.
-Yeah. Love ya.

-Hug?
-I guess so. (LAUGHS)

-Love you.
-We actually never hug.

Will you open the open
the gate for me?

-It should be open, I think.
-Oh, that's right.

NICOLE: OK. See you.

(CAR STARTS)

(PENSIVE MUSIC)

ELLY: On Saturday night,
I was lying here in bed,

and I felt this...this...

..huge, um, breath
come out of me,

and I sat up and I said,
"Danny, I...I killed the baby."

We went straight to Cabrini.

They had called in a specialist.

She just said, "I'm sorry."

I remember staring at
this light,

and as she was telling me the
news, this light just dimmed.

I remember just thinking,
"That's...that's...that's it."

All this... (SIGHS)

Like, this whole trial and...

This...this little...

You know, this little...
you know, fighter

I felt that I had in me,

this little warrior,
tried so hard...

..but it was...
it was just too much.

I told myself that
that's a trial baby

and now it will never be
affected by Leifer again.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

(POIGNANT MUSIC CONTINUES)

DASSI: This past little break
from the court

grieving Elly's loss.

Spoke with
my therapist yesterday

and we're looking at
an admission to hospital.

How much more
can a person survive?

I don't know
and I don't want to find out.

NICOLE: We were told that
when the verdict arrives,

there is no time
for anyone to travel in.

So if we actually do want
to be there for the verdict,

we have to be in close
proximity to the court,

and we just
have to sit and wait.

Wouldn't it be good if it comes
before the weekend, though?

To go through a weekend
waiting till Monday...

DASSI: It's so quick.
Two and a half days.

I would say that's so quick.

When they're convicting someone
of something so serious,

naming someone a paedophile,

that's a big thing
for people to do,

so they take their time
to do that.

The scariest part is, if she's
not guilty in all 27 charges,

she goes back to Israel
that day.

There is nothing
to keep her back here for.

There's nothing that we can do.

And there's nothing we can do,
nuh.

That's too scary to think about.

I literally cannot
put my mind to that.

I can't process that.

If Leifer was found not guilty,
she would be going back

to her community in Israel
and saying,

"I've been found not guilty."

People trusting her
with their daughters again.

Definitely allowed doubts
to creep in,

especially with the way
that my mental health was.

We did not hear
any verdict today.

I am back in hospital...

..in the same ward
that I was in 11 years ago.

And I've got an evening ahead
of rising panic.

PENNY: The jury's
just asked a question.

They want some direction
on reaching a unanimous verdict.

There is what they've
described as a deadlock.

They really are struggling,

and I have seen
a jury being discharged

'cause they simply
couldn't come to a resolution.

So what the judge has given
is a perseverance direction.

DASSI: Did you see any of
their faces when they walked in?

-Yeah, they looked sorry.
-Yeah, I know.

But I don't know
what 'sorry' means.

"Sorry that I'm gonna deliver
a non-guilty?"

-Yeah, exactly.
-"Sorry that I'm gonna..."

-That's what I got as well.
-I was trying to...

-They looked, like, sad at us.
-Yeah.

Ian Hill's made it a lot closer

than a lot of us
anticipated it would be,

and done a really good job

in placing doubt
in the minds of the jurors.

PENNY:
He's a fantastic barrister.

It makes it easy to see
how he could get them

to come back with
a not guilty verdict.

We'll wait, hope.

Hope dies. Go home.

I'm just, like, on the verge of
tears. I don't want to talk.

NICOLE: Yeah, fair enough.

I can't imagine going
through another weekend

of this kind of uncertainty.

One weekend was bad enough,

and then the whole next week
and then another weekend.

And they're locked away
in this room

where they're not coming
to a decision for nine days.

It was torture.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

WOMAN ON PHONE:
I just got the call.

They've got verdicts
on everything.

We're reconvening at 3:45.

-Speak to you soon.
-OK, OK.

-They've got...
-'Bye.

ELLY: They've got verdicts
on everything.

Guys, guys, guys.
What time is it?

It's happening. 2:45.

We've got to wait
another 40 minutes.

(ELLY EXCLAIMS)

(DASSI MUMBLES)
We're getting a verdict today.

-We're getting a verdict today.
-We're getting a verdict.

Actually getting
a verdict today.

-Verdicts on everything.
-Verdicts on everything.

DASSI: We're sitting just
gripping each other's hands,

waiting for the court
to quieten down,

for the judge to come in,
for the jury to come in,

for the judge to ask the jury
what their verdict is.

First five charges
belong to Nicole.

And the jury foreman stood up
and said, "Not guilty."

And then that continued
for the second and the third,

for the fourth, the fifth.

None of Nicole's charges
have been found guilty.

It was such a shock,
but it didn't really settle in,

probably, till that night.

Something kicked in
to be strong at that point

and not break down in that room.

And then they read charge six,
and it's guilty.

And then, you know,
it was guilty and guilty,

and then a couple of not
guilties thrown in there again.

And to me
it didn't make any sense,

but it was such a huge,
huge mix of emotions.

NEWSREADER: 15 years after the
former Elsternwick principal

fled to Israel,

Malka Leifer is tonight
a convicted child sex offender

guilty of 18 charges,
including six of rape.

REPORTER: She was found guilty
of eight charges

relating to youngest sister
Elly.

There were 14 charges
linked to middle sibling Dassi,

the verdict guilty on 10.

But for eldest sister Nicole,
a unanimous not guilty

on the five charges where
she was the alleged victim.

JUDGE: Mrs Leifer,
can you please say yes

if you can see and hear me...

LEIFER: Yes.

JUDGE: ..that your total
effective sentence

is 15 years imprisonment.

I fix a non-parole period
of 11 and a half years.

She abused the three of us
for so many years,

and while today's verdict
may not properly reflect that,

she is guilty and she will be
held accountable.

Justice was served today.

We did our best.
We did our best.

Today we can start to
take that power back

that she stole from us
as children.

REPORTER: Will your client
be appealing, Mr Hill?

IAN: There's nothing to say
at this stage.

REPORTER: Is this what
you expected, Mr Hill?

NICOLE: Guys, I'm really...
Really, I'm OK.

ELLY: Your strength
makes me feel OK.

-I prepared myself.
-DASSI: I know.

But we also know
that she was guilty.

NICOLE: But Ian
worked so bloody hard.

He wanted so badly
to discredit me,

and that's why
I prepared myself.

I did. So I'm OK.

NICOLE: Now I'm getting
fricking sorry messages.

I don't want that.

Like, it's just not necessary.

We just never thought
that we would reach, like,

this day, like, today.

-This is surreal, this moment.
-It is.

What do we want to do? (LAUGHS)

-We're so, like, in shock.
-ELLY: Someone needs to...

Someone else needs to
make decisions right now.

NICOLE: Wherever we are,
we'll be together.

We can be in a hotel.

I don't know.
I can't go in a car yet.

I'll fricking
jump out the window.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

It was a very difficult
judgement for Nicole

and I think you can still
see that in her eyes.

The judge in the Leifer case
chose to exclude some evidence.

The history of the school itself
and prior allegations

that the school had ignored,

and the story of Leifer being
scuttled out of the country.

The verdict in
Nicole's allegations

would have been different

had all that information
been available.

DASSI:

I know. I know that.
But she's got something.

She did get a win.
Her win was with me.

I put up a Facebook post

so people would just stop
telling me how sorry they are.

WOMAN ON PHONE:
Apparently, ABC reported

that Adass issued
a public apology to the victims

and commended
how brave they were.

DASSI: Oh, wow.

But why didn't they give us
their support

while the whole thing
was going on?

Yeah, yeah, it's a completely...

DASSI: "Oh, my gosh,
she's actually guilty.

"Oh, we should probably
say something now.

"Not when we send her away
or pay for her tickets."

So genuine, so authentic.

(POIGNANT MUSIC)

ELLY:
What's the overriding feelings

that you guys are feeling now?

NICOLE: I'm just worried
that no-one believes me.

(NOTIFICATION CHIMES)

DASSI: 'Australian Jewish News'.

Do you want to talk to them?

Um, they can call tomorrow.
There's no rush.

They don't put out
their paper till Wednesday,

so no rush for them.

DASSI: 'The New York Times'
just sent an email.

NICOLE: Just send my number
if you want me to...

I'll just forward you
the email, Chams,

and then
you can respond to them.

OK.

-ELLY: Is there more pizza?
-There's more pizza.

It's kind of just small,
small bite-size.

Chams, do you want some pizza?

(INDISTINCT CHATTER)

-No.
-Just to clink glasses?

-OK.
-OK.

(REFLECTIVE MUSIC)

To guilty, guys.

NICOLE: I held it together
pretty much until that night,

when I had a therapy session
late that night,

and I think that was, like,
the one and only time

she ever offered
to keep her phone on.

I said no, because I wouldn't
impose that on anyone.

DASSI: I think for any victim
that gets not guilty,

it's not an ending.

There's just no closure.

I feel relieved because
she'd been found guilty.

There was definitely that.

Then devastation because
Nicole hadn't got justice.

And how do we walk away
from that,

not being able to walk
away from it together?

Receiving not guilty
has made sure

that she will be in me
for the rest of my life,

like, we will still be
interconnected because of that.

No matter how much I try
and move away from her,

my need to prove
that she did that,

it just means
that she'll be in my head,

goodness knows,
maybe the rest of my life.

(SOMBRE MUSIC)

How could something so
traumatising for so many years

fighting for justice
turn out like this?

I don't know how to go on.

Getting justice is something
that has kept me alive.

I don't know how to
just take the not guilty.

There has been no minute,
not waking or sleeping,

that I have been able

to escape the pain
of the verdict.

-(TRAFFIC HUBBUB)
-(TRAM BELL RINGS)

(INDISTINCT CHATTER
AND LAUGHTER)

DASSI: The response
from the book

has been overwhelmingly
positive.

DASSI: Thank you so much
for coming this morning.

WOMAN: Oh, look,
you were the highlight for me

coming to this festival.

-Best of luck to you.
-Thank you so much.

To know that words
that I've written,

people have either been
educated from, inspired by,

or in some ways it resonates
with them

and they feel less alone
in their journey,

I mean, that's such
an amazing thing to hear.

So there's definitely
a sense of pride.

(ELLY HUMS TUNEFULLY)

ELLY: A month after verdict,
we fell pregnant.

The pregnancy was high risk.

There were many complications
throughout.

Our little daughter came
into the world quite early.

She fought all the way
through NICU and special care,

and she's home with us now
and continues to thrive

and grow
and give us so much joy.

Ah!

NICOLE: I think right now,
where I'm holding,

which is a year and 11 weeks
since the verdict -

I'm still counting because it's
still that significant to me -

I think
I'm in a much better place.

A few months after, some kind
of fire reawakened inside me

and I decided that Malka Leifer
is just not going to shut me up.

So I opened up a TikTok account.

It just grew, and the amount
of people that told me

it resonated with them gave me
more confidence to keep growing.

I realised
that I do have an ability,

and I know I have had for years,
to be able to support others,

before I eventually,
hopefully, study law next year.

So I am definitely
in a stronger, better place

than I have been for a while.

TED: My view about Dassi
has only been reinforced.

She's a remarkable young woman,
as are her two sisters.

They've been through hell,
they've survived.

All power to them.

DANIELLE: If it wasn't
for the sisters

making as much noise
as they did,

Leifer would still be in Israel.

They are the most resilient,
courageous women

that I've ever had
the honour of knowing.

MATAN: I really admire them
for taking that step forward,

for being role models
for other victims.

(AIRY VOCAL MUSIC)