Abraham Mondrowitz, 60, a member of the Gur Hasidic Jewish sect, was arrested in
Jerusalem in November for allegedly abusing dozens of children at his
unlicensed private clinic at his Brooklyn, New York home during the 1980s. He
fled to Israel in 1985 as police were investigating charges against him.
Israeli Justice Ministry spokesman Moshe Cohen said the Jerusalem District
Court approved the extradition order, but Mondrowitz has the right to appeal.
Court spokeswoman Tal Rosner said the state would make the final decision about
whether to extradite Mondrowitz, who could appeal to the Israeli Supreme Court
against Sunday's ruling.
Last September, the United States resubmitted an extradition request first made
in 1985, months after Mondrowitz fled Brooklyn for Israel.
The renewed US request came after Israel and the United States amended their
extradition treaty to include all crimes whose punishment is more than one year
imprisonment, according to the Israeli state prosecutor's office. Before the
change that took effect a year ago, the extradition treaty between Israel and
the United States did not include sodomy.
