Israeli President a Sex Pervert
nick cobb
08-23-2006, 10h22
JERUSALEM (AFP)
Israeli President Moshe Katsav was grilled by police for five hours on
allegations of sexual harassment in the latest scandal to hit a
leadership reeling over failures in the Lebanon war.
Allegations of sexual shenanigans and that his office granted unlawful
pardons may cost the Iranian-born head of state his job, which could
make him Israel's second consecutive president to resign amid scandal.
Investigators questioned Katsav at his Jerusalem residence Wednesday for
hours about allegations of sexual harassment from a woman employee at
the presidency and his own accusations that he was in turn blackmailed.
"The president was questioned for five hours by the team who are
carrying out the investigation," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.
"Tomorrow morning the investigation is going to continue and the
president is going to be questioned once again," he added.
One of the 61-year-old president's lawyers, Zion Amir, swore to his
client's innocence after the marathon questioning concluded.
"President Katsav has not committed any offence. He has never sexually
harrassed anyone. He is ready to cooperate with the investigators and
will answer any questions they wish to ask him," Amir told reporters.
Wednesday marked the first time Katsav has been grilled by police since
the damaging allegations first surfaced a few months ago.
Two days ago, police searched his home and office, confiscating
computers and documents in what is fast becoming the biggest in a series
of sexual and financial scandals compromising senior Israeli state figures.
The Maariv newspaper said that according to one senior police officer,
there is enough evidence to indict Katzav, who has repeatedly denied
having sexual relations with any employee from his office.
One woman, a former senior employee, has testified to being coerced into
sex with the president after he hinted she would otherwise lose her job.
She was reported to have passed a lie-detector test.
The case allegedly came to light when a woman tried to blackmail Katsav
for money and a job, threatening to file sexual harassment charges, at
which point the president alerted Attorney General Menachem Mazuz.
Mazuz ordered a preliminary investigation into harassment charges on
July 12, the same day that Israel's offensive against the Shiite militia
Hezbollah was launched.
Katsav also faces allegations that his office granted illegal pardons to
prisoners at the request of associates, local media reported.
Although the probe is expected to take several more months, MPs have
already begun to demand that the former transport and tourism minister
step down.
A simple request by 20 MPs could see him summoned before a parliamentary
commission where a three-quarters majority could lead to a hearing
before the full parliament. A vote by 90 of the 120 MPs could see him
forced to resign.
Formerly leader of the opposition Likud party, Katsav emigrated to
Israel shortly after the Jewish state was founded in 1948 and was
elected the largely ceremonial head of state in 2000 as the first
conservative to hold the post.
Scandal forced his predecessor, the late Ezer Weizman, to resign after
revelations that he received around 450,000 dollars as "gifts" from
French millionaire Edouard Saroussi in the 1980s, when Weizman was an MP
and minister.
A string of contemporary scandals, also implicating Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert, has tarnished the government's credibility as it weathers a
storm of public anger at perceived mismanagement of the Lebanon war.
Haim Ramon, who resigned as justice minister this week, has been charged
with sexually harassing a female soldier.
Tzahi Hanegbi, another senior member of Olmert's Kadima party and
chairman of parliament's foreign affairs and defense committee, is under
investigation for fraud, perjury and breach of trust.
Olmert, who has seen his approval ratings plummet in the three months
since he took office, also faces a possible property deal probe.
AGGreen
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