Israeli president told to leave official residence

Israel’s attorney general has told President Moshe Katsav to move out of his official residence in Jerusalem while he takes a leave of absence to fight off accusations that he committed rape and other crimes.

Katsav’s lawyers reacted with anger, saying he was being intentionally humiliated by Attorney General Meni Mazuz, who said last week he planned to charge Katsav with a series of crimes stemming from his treatment of women subordinates.

“A man lives there for six years, his toothpaste is there, his toothbrush. So you must display a certain sensitivity, a certain culture. I think that this behaviour, a kind of expulsion of the evil in our midst, of this evil demon. It looks bad, it sounds bad,” Zion Amir, one of Katsav’s lawyers, told Israel’s Army Radio.

According to his lawyers, Katsav has not stayed in the president’s residence in Jerusalem since parliament granted his request for a temporary leave of absence last week, returning there briefly on Monday to organise his belongings. He has been staying at his private home in Kiryat Malachi in southern Israel.

Mazuz, who has not made a final decision yet on whether to indict Katsav, sent a letter to the parliament last week saying the president could not legally stay in the residence during his leave of absence.