Israel's Deputy Health Minister is being investigated over allegations he attempted to obtain false medical papers to prevent the extradition to Australia of an accused paedophile.

Key points: It is alleged Yaakov Litzman attempted to obtain false medical records that would help Malka Leifer avoid extradition to Australia

It is alleged Yaakov Litzman attempted to obtain false medical records that would help Malka Leifer avoid extradition to Australia Ms Leifer, former principal of orthodox Jewish school, has been charged with 74 counts of sexual abuse

Ms Leifer, former principal of orthodox Jewish school, has been charged with 74 counts of sexual abuse While living in Israel, she has attempted to avoid extradition and trial on mental health grounds since 2014

Jerusalem's deputy mayor has called on Yaakov Litzman to step down while he is investigated over his efforts to help former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer.

"He should take an immediate leave of absence," deputy mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum told the ABC.

"It's the end of the government — there are elections in April. He should allow due process to proceed."

Ms Leifer is a former principal of an orthodox Jewish school in Melbourne who has been charged with 74 counts of child sexual abuse.

She has been fighting her extradition to Australia on mental health grounds.

Ms Hassan-Nahoum said that Mr Litzman had authority over several Israeli bodies that were involved in the Leifer proceedings.

"The mere thought that Litzman can still remain in charge of the bodies that are taking a significant role in this very delicate and complicated case is like leaving the fox in charge of the chickens."

Mr Litzman has confirmed he has spoken to investigators and denies any wrongdoing.

"Deputy Minister Litzman is confident in his innocence and will continue to assist with any request that comes to his office, in accordance with the law and existing regulations," his office said in a statement.

The allegations against Mr Litzman are garnering much media attention in Israel.

A video has emerged of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu receiving the news that Mr Litzman was under investigation by police.

"You're killing me," the Israeli leader is seen to say.

'It makes me absolutely sick'

An alleged victim of Ms Leifer, Dassi Erlich, has welcomed the news, but also said she was disappointed that "corruption at the highest levels of Israeli government" was to blame for the delay in her trial.

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"We've been suspicious of this since the beginning of this case, with the constant delays and the constant waiting for justice, so this is not new news to us," she said.

"In a way this is actually really good news because finally there's going to be an investigation about what's happened that's prevented justice for so long.

"I would like to see the Health Minister step down. I would like to see that this is fully investigated, and find out who and why and what happened that we've ... had 45 court hearings and still no extradition trial."

Ms Elrich has campaigned vocally, along with other alleged victims, to have Ms Leifer brought back home, and says they would have more hope of succeeding without political interference.

"We would have a lot more hope that one day we would actually face Malka Leifer in an Australian court, and that we can finally put this chapter of our lives behind us," she said.

"It makes me absolutely sick, completely sick and completely devastated that these are people who are supposed to be protecting the vulnerable and instead are doing everything to pervert justice."

Press reports lead to investigation

The Jerusalem Post is reporting that Mr Litzman was interviewed over an alleged attempt to obtain fake medical papers to support Ms Leifer's effort to avoid extradition to Australia. The Post stated that the investigation was being supervised by the Jerusalem District Attorney's office.

The Times of Israel reported that Mr Litzman was suspected of ethics violations and had been under covert investigation for several months.

Reports in Israeli newspapers have led to the investigation of Yaakov Litzman. ( Reuters: Ammar Awad )

The paper reported that Mr Litzman was suspected of having sought to obtain a falsified psychiatric report that would have prevented Ms Leifer's extradition to Australia on medical grounds.

Ms Leifer left Australia in 2008, shortly before allegations of child abuse were made public.

An extradition request was filed in 2012, but she was deemed mentally unfit to stand trial.

She was rearrested in 2014 after doubts emerged over whether she was indeed mentally unfit.

Ms Leifer had been on house arrest, living in an isolated orthodox Jewish settlement in the West Bank, telling the court she was catatonic and unable to live a normal life due to severe mental illness.

But she was arrested for obstruction of justice in February 2018 after private investigators filmed her shopping, socialising and interacting normally, in blatant contrast to the medical evidence her team had submitted.

She is due to appear in court in Israel on Monday.