2ND Israeli president seeks temporary leave in sex scandal


dpa German Press Agency
Published: Wednesday January 24, 2007

Jerusalem- An enraged Israeli President Moshe Katsav
Wednesday evening passionately denied charges that he had raped a
former employee and sexually harassed several others.
Resisting growing calls to he submit his immediate resignation -
including one from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert - Katsav confirmed he
had requested a temporary leave from his office.

At a news conference at his residence, however, he pledged to step
down permanently as soon as a final decision was made on whether to
hand down an indictment against him.

Katsav made the request for a temporary suspension, which requires
the approval of a parliamentary committee, in a letter to Knesset
Speaker Dalia Itzik on Wednesday.

"I did not commit any of the acts attributed to me," an adament
and emotional Katsav said. He accused the Israeli media of conducting
an "unprecedented" campaign and "witch hunt" against him and slammed
police for leaking details of their six-month investigation.

The nine women who filed complaints against him acted out of an
"urge for vengeance" because he sacked some of them and refused
others the jobs they requested, he insisted.

Minutes later, Olmert added his voice to growing calls for the
president to resign.

"Under these circumstances, there is no doubt in my heart that the
president can no longer fulfil his duties and he must leave his
post," Olmert told a conference in Herzliya, north of Tel Aviv.

The Knesset House Committee was expected to meet Thursday to
discuss the president's request for a temporary leave. Under Israeli
law, the president may request a leave of absence for a period up to
three-months, which can then be extended for another three months.

So long as he is president, Katsav enjoys immunity from criminal
prosecution. His seven-year term is due to end in July.

Israel's attorney general announced late Tuesday afternoon that he
was recommending the president be indicted on charges of rape, sexual
harassment, obstruction of justice and breach of trust.

Attorney General Menahem Mazuz said he would grant Katsav a verbal
hearing, after which he would make his final decision. Many
legislators have called the hearing a formality and said Katsav
should not postpone his resignation until then in order to avoid
further damage to the presidency.

By mid-Wednesday afternoon, at least 27 lawmakers had singed a
petition demanding impeachment proceedings, more than the 20 needed
for the House Committee to start the proceedings.

Katsav can be ousted from office if 90 of the Knesset's 120
legislators approve an impeachment request from the House Committee.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, who is also foreign minister, became
one of the highest-ranking officials demanding Katsav resign in a
statement saying that while he was innocent until proven guilty, "he
should not be waging the battle to prove his innocence from within
the president's office."

Education Minister Yuli Tamir said Wednesday morning that Katsav
should quit immediately, saying it was impossible to educate students
to honour the presidency when the office holder had been accused of
such serious charges. She said she had considered ordering his
portrait be removed from school walls.

The attorney general's unprecedented recommendation Tuesday capped
a six-month long investigation into allegations that the 61-year-old
Katsav sexually harassed 10 former females employees.

In his announcement, Mazuz said he found evidence in four of the
allegations strong enough to warrant an indictment. One other
complaint lacked evidence while the statute of limitations had passed
in the remaining five cases.

He recommended an indictment on one count of rape of a female
employee while Katsav was serving as tourism minister in 1998-1999,
forcing sexual relations on a former secretary by abusing his
authority as her employer during his presidency in 2003-2004, and a
host of lesser sexual harassment offences. The most severe charge of
rape carries a maximum sentence of 16 years imprisonment, while the
lesser charges are punishable by up to two to three years in prison.

He also recommended Katsav be charged for giving away dozens of
silver cups belonging to the state as personal gifts, and for
obstructing justice and harassing a witness by calling one of the
complainants into his office and allegedly forcing her to reveal what
she had told the police.

The attorney general ordered police to close an additional case,
investigating whether Katsav granted illegal pardons to inmates, due
to lack of evidence.

Knesset Speaker Itzik will become acting president if Katsav is
granted a leave of absence, and she will also hold that post until
the Knesset choses a new president, should Katsav resign.

Katsav, then a stolid opposition front-bencher, was elected
president in July 2000, defeating veteran statesman Shimon Peres in a
secret ballot by Knesset members.

He was seen at the time as the antithesis of his predecessor, the
flamboyant Ezer Weizman, who resigned the presidency after a
financial scandal.

© 2006 - dpa German Press Agency