Last update - 00:00 31/01/2007
40 MKs sign petition calling for impeachment of president
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz Correspondent
A petition calling for the removal of President Moshe Katsav from office was submitted to The Knesset House Committee on Wednesday. The document was signed by 40 Knesset members.
"We request that the Knesset House Committee discuss and recommend the removal of the president from office, in light of the inappropriate conduct that has rendered him unworthy of his title," the petition reads.
The petition was submitted along with a copy of Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's statement regarding his intention to indict Katsav. Mazuz's statement alludes to the existence of evidence supporting allegations that the President sexually assaulted four of his female employees.
The Petition was signed by MKs from all Knesset factions, with the exception of the religious and ultra-Orthodox parties.
The petition will be submitted to Katsav Wednesday.
The deliberations over the impeachment will begin in two weeks. During this time, the president and his attorneys will be able to prepare a defense for the scheduled hearing before the Knesset House Committee.
According to the impeachment guidelines approved on Tuesday, a request to delay the deliberations can be made by the President's attorneys, or alternately by one third of the petition's signatories, and must be properly justified.
The regulations also stipulate that the Knesset House Committee has the authority to summon the attorney general.
The official guidelines do not specify a time frame for the deliberations, but the process is expected to be completed within three to four committee meetings.
The President's impeachment requires the support of 75 percent of the committee members, which are 19 of the 25 member MKs. Currently, at least seven of the committee members appose the motion: Three from Shas, two from Yisrael Beiteinu, a United Torah Judaism MK, and committee chairman Ruhama Avraham of Kadima.
If the motion is approved, the matter will be brought before the Knesset plenum for a week of deliberations. In that event, the president will have the right to address the plenum ahead of the vote over his impeachment. The impeachment requires a 75 percent, or 90 MK majority vote.