President Moshe Katsav cancelled a planned appearance at the formal opening of the Knesset winter session on Monday, after lawmakers threatened to remain seated when the President entered the parliamentary chamber, contrary to tradition.
On Sunday, the police team investigating allegations against the president recommended that he be charged with rape, sexual assault, eavesdropping, fraud, breach of trust and improprieties in gift distribution.
Katsav's attorney, Zion Amir, said Monday morning that if and when an indictment was submitted, Katsav will resign his post as president.
|
 | Advertisement | |
According to Amir, Katsav will not try to negotiate a deal with the state prosecution.
Amir's statement put an end to Justice Ministry worries that Katsav will try to remain in office, thus preventing legal action, under the law which prohibits trying an acting president.
A number of lawmakers had said they would remain seated when Katsav entered the parliamentary chamber to a trumpet fanfare, by tradition an occasion for all present to rise as a sign of respect. A number of MKs , including most of the Meretz faction, said they would boycott the session and a few legislators had said that they would walk out before Katsav arrives.
Even some senior members of Katsav's Likud party had hinted that they would join the protest, among them Limor Livnat, Gideon Sa'ar, and Gilad Erdan.
The president's decision to avoid the Knesset ceremony was met with relief by MKs.
"The president spared us all embarrassment and shame," said Meretz faction chair MK Zahava Gal-On.
MK Michael Eitan (Likud) praised Katsav for his decision and said that the president's absence from the ceremony does not constitute an admission of guilt, but is rather a fitting and appropriate act of favoring the dignity of the presidential establishment over the legitimate personal struggle of the president to defend his innocence.
MK Menachem Ben Sasson (Kadima) said that he respects the president's considerations of the MKs' request that he refrain from causing unnecessary embarrassment and cancel his arrival at Knesset, thus coserving the dignity of both the presidential establishment and Knesset.
Earlier, Katsav had indicated that although he will attend the session, he will refrain from addressing the house.
Mid-morning on Monday, however, Katzav's brother Lior, who has acted as the president's spokeman in recent days, announced that the president had decided against attending the session.
Lior Katsav said that the president was taking the step to safeguard the dignity of the Knesset in the face of the possible protests.
Even so, Lior stressed that president Katsav was not considering resigning from his post.
"In our view, the most important thing is the attorney general's decision," Lior said. "As far as I know, there is no evidence to justify submitting an indictment against the president."
Lior Katsav also criticized unnamed "vultures" who he said were taking advantage of the president's situation and hounding him.
"We have no doubt of his innocence," Lior Katsav told Army Radio. "We know he is being framed and he is being accused of things that did not happen."
Katsav will continue meeting advisors today to discuss, among other things, his future in office.
Police recommend against trying 'A'
The investigators presented their findings and recommendations for indictment to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and senior officials in the State Prosecutor's office, and said they had consolidated enough evidence to try the president.
The police also revealed Sunday that the president is suspected of purchasing dozens of gifts at hundreds of shekels apiece with money taken from the President's Residence budget. The police said there was evidence of intention to "carry out crimes of fraud and breach of trust."
This was the first time reports of this matter have been released to the public. Investigators also said there was not enough evidence to try Katsav for improprieties in the pardons process.
The most serious charge Katsav could face is for the alleged rape of two women.
Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino, head of police investigation and intelligence, and Deputy Commissioner Yoav Sigalovich, also recommended against trying A., the former President's Residence employee whose alleged blackmail of the president spurred the controversy, for lack of evidence.
Investigators also said Sunday that their examination of the case was not entirely completed, adding that they planned to question Katsav further.
Katsav's attorney said in response that the police's recommendations had no legal validity, as only the State Prosecutor could decide whether to indict the president.
Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel, who has been monitoring the case, is expected to complete his recommendation on indictment in the next few days and pass it on to State Prosecutor Eran Shendar, along with a draft indictment. Attorney General Menachem Mazuz is expected to make his final decision on the case within two weeks.
Police sources said that the probe has produced evidence to support all three of the possible charges against the president: sexual offenses, improprieties in the pardons process and illegal wiretapping of President's Residence employees.
The prosecution must still decide whether this evidence is sufficient for an indictment. However, senior police officials said this weekend that they believe an indictment is certain; the only question, they said, is on which charges.
Prosecution sources said that at least with regard to the sex offenses, Mazuz is expected to adopt the police's recommendation to indict. Police have received complaints from 10 women against Katsav, and police sources said that an indictment could be filed in three or four of these cases.
With regard to both the sexual offenses and the pardons process, the police have evidence that has not previously been published in the media, the sources said.
But Katsav's lawyer, Zion Amir, insisted on Saturday that the evidence does not justify indicting his client in any of the three categories of charges.
The prosecution may also decide to indict certain senior employees of the President's Residence on charges of abetting some of Katsav's alleged crimes, the police sources said.
With regard to the pardons issue, both the director general of the President's Residence and the residence's legal advisor have already been questioned under warning, and police sources said that over the last few days, they have uncovered additional evidence of improprieties in the granting of pardons.
Police sources explained that while some of the evidence collected indicates criminal behavior on Katsav's part, much of it seems to point instead to behavior that was merely problematic from a public standpoint.
Mazuz will thus have to decide whether the "criminal" evidence is strong enough to give the prosecution a reasonable chance of winning a conviction in court.
The prosecution will also have to decide whether there is sufficient evidence to charge A., the former President's Residence employee who accused Katsav of rape, with attempting to blackmail the president. Police officials said that they believe there is evidence to support such a charge.
Attorney Yossi Fuchs on Sunday demanded the High Court of Justice order Katsav to resign, if for the president's own benefit, until the state decides whether or not to indict him. Fuchs also requested an temporary injunction be issued preventing Katsav from participating on the opening of the Knesset's winter session on Monday. |
.jpg)
