Jerusalem – Israeli President Moshe Katsav faced indictment Tuesday on charges of rape and abuse of power in the most serious accusation against a top Israeli official in the country’s history.
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 lawmaker Benny Elon, who called on Katsav to resign to spare Israel further trauma. But Katsav gave no indication he was preparing to step down, despite a wave of demands that he quit.
Katsav has insisted he is innocent. After Attorney General Meni Mazuz announced Tuesday that he intended to indict Katsav, the president’s lawyers said they hoped to persuade Mazuz to change his mind before a formal indictment, a step that would make Katsav Israel’s first sitting president to be charged with a crime. But many Israelis say the enormity of the scandal has already badly tainted the office.
“He should be the symbol of Israel, the uniting person and an ideal model for all the politicians. … So this is a bad sign for Israeli politics,” said Gabriel Sheffer, a political science professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
The presidency was once filled by Zionist legends and revered statesmen. But the office, whose main responsibilities include receiving foreign diplomats and representing Israel at formal ceremonies, has dropped in esteem in recent years.
Katsav, 61, has a far less lofty résumé 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 said a “vision” showed him that Katsav was favored by the heavens, swinging votes among believers.
But Katsav’s relatively quiet presidency was rocked last summer when one of his employees accused him of forcing her to have sex in his office. A flood of other women quickly came forward with similar accusations. On Tuesday, Mazuz said he had collected enough evidence to indict Katsav on charges of rape, harassment, abusing his power for sex, obstructing justice and illegally accepting gifts, stemming from his time as president and Cabinet minister.
Katsav had previously said he would step down if indicted. He is expected to hold a news conference today.
