Israeli president may face rape and abuse charges

Israeli President Moshe Katsav today came under intense pressure to step down after the attorney general told him he faced charges of rape and abuse of power, the most serious accusations against a top official in Israel’s history.

Katsav planned a news conference later in the day, and Israeli media, citing one of his lawyers, said he would propose a temporary leave of absence until Attorney-General Meni Mazuz made a final decision whether to indict.

Mazuz yesterday notified the president he planned to press charges, but would first give Katsav, who has maintained silence since, an opportunity to plead his case before him.

Katsav, 61, has said he is innocent of assaulting the four women who have accused him. His lawyers hope to use the hearing before Mazuz to persuade the attorney general to drop his plans to press charges.

No other sitting Israeli president has ever been charged with a crime.

Many other top officials have been put on trial or tainted by corruption allegations.

One Cabinet minister is currently on trial in a separate sexual misconduct case, and corruption allegations have reached as high as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, now under investigation for his involvement in the sale of a government-controlled bank.

The small opposition Meretz party said it would seek parliamentary backing to launch impeachment proceedings against Katsav.

Meretz politician Zehava Galon said the president should have resigned yesterday after Mazuz made his intention known and said she would start collecting the 20 politicians’ signatures needed to convene an impeachment debate.

“We shall not await the president’s statement,” she told Israel Radio. “We are starting the process of signing up members of parliament to bring about the impeachment of the president.”

Meretz holds only seven of parliament’s 120 seats, but other parties have said they might join the initiative if Katsav did not quit voluntarily.

The president enjoys immunity while in office and could be tried only after his resignation, his impeachment by three quarters of the parliament or the conclusion of his term, which ends this summer. Katsav had previously said he would step down if indicted.

The allegation that Katsav used his position as Israel’s ceremonial head of state, a job supposed to serve as the nation’s moral compass, to force himself on his female employees has left the nation reeling.

“It is a sad day for the state of Israel,” said politician Benny Elon, who called on Katsav to resign to spare the nation further trauma.

Many Israelis say the enormity of the scandal has already tarnished the presidency.

The office was once filled by Zionist legends and revered statesman, but has lost esteem in recent years.

Katsav’s predecessor, outspoken war hero turned peacemaker Ezer Weizman, resigned in 2000 after the attorney general ruled he had improperly accepted more than €227,700 in gifts from a French millionaire. Weizman was never indicted.

Katsav had a far less lofty resume than his predecessors.

He had been a low-level Cabinet minister and a Likud Party stalwart when the parliament chose him to be president in 2000 in a shocking upset over Nobel Peace Prize winner Shimon Peres, after a revered rabbi swung votes by saying a “vision” showed him the heavens favoured Katsav.

Katsav’s relatively quiet presidency was rocked last summer when one of his female employees accused him of forcing her to have sex in his office. Other women came forward with similar accusations, painting the picture of a politician who had abused his power throughout his career.

In the face of the growing scandal, Katsav disappeared from public life, lying low in the president’s compound in Jerusalem. He even briefly removed himself from office in September instead of presiding over the inauguration of a new chief justice for the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, Mazuz said he had collected enough evidence to indict Katsav on charges of rape, harassment, abusing his power for sex, obstructing justice and illegally distributing gifts while president and Cabinet minister.

Legal authorities said the charges could carry a sentence of more than 20 years in jail.

Katsav’s lawyers said they believed Mazuz would drop the indictments after hearing his side of the story.

“The president believes that everyone will see that he is the victim of false charges,” said his lawyer David Libai. Some of the complainants were motivated by “revenge” after they were fired from their jobs, he said.