Jerusalem – Facing possible indictment on rape and sexual-harassment charges, Israeli President Moshe Katsav on Wednesday angrily defied calls to quit but asked for a temporary leave while he fights to clear his name.
Katsav’s request was unlikely to quell calls for his resignation a day after Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said he was prepared to indict. Mazuz said his decision would depend on the outcome of a still-unscheduled hearing at which the president could rebut the charges, which involve former female staff members.
In a nationally televised speech, Katsav, 61, proclaimed his innocence, saying that his family for months had suffered a campaign of “false and malicious” allegations that he labeled a “media lynching.”
After months of issuing only terse comments, the president pumped his fist and pounded the lectern during a 45-minute speech before reporters, his wife, Gila, seated nearby. Katsav said he had not harmed anyone and promised to prevail.
“I am innocent and will remain innocent,” he said, “but the damage is intolerable and irreversible.”
He did not take questions.
Earlier, Katsav asked the Knesset, or parliament, for a leave from his mainly ceremonial post that could last up to three months. Under Israeli law, a Knesset committee must approve the request.
The potential charges cited by Mazuz, including an array of sex-related offenses, would be the most serious leveled against a top Israeli official. Katsav said he would quit if formally charged.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking at a conference, said Katsav no longer could carry out his duties and should go. “This is a sad day for the state of Israel,” Olmert said.
Even before Katsav’s appearance, some lawmakers were gathering signatures to begin impeachment proceedings. Impeachment requires at least 90 votes in the 120-member Knesset.
To some, Katsav’s departure appeared inevitable.
“The president will resign. If not today – tomorrow. If not tomorrow – the day after,” political columnist Nahum Barnea wrote in Wednesday’s edition of the daily Yediot Aharonot newspaper. “Resignation, not temporary incapacitation or any other trick, is what is needed now in order to save what is left of the institution of the presidency.”
Katsav is married with five children. A longtime member of the ruling Likud Party, he was elected to his post by the Knesset in 2000.
