Katsav says will resign if AG upholds decision to indict him
By Yuval Yoaz, Jonathan Lis and Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondents, and Haaretz Service
A visibly emotional President Moshe Katsav on Wednesday evening vowed that he would not resign following the decision by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz to indict him on a series of charges, including rape and sexual harassment, but swore to leave office should Mazuz uphold his decision.
"The law does not demand that I quit. The attorney general does not demand this. I am not prepared to bow to blackmail," Katsav said. But he added: "If he decides [to indict me], I promise to resign."
Instead, the president earlier asked the Knesset to agree to a leave of absence. He pledged not to succumb to calls for his resignation, which he said would be the easy option.
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday told delegates to the Herzliya Conference that he had no doubt that the president could not continue to serve in his position.
Katsav denied the accusations against him, calling them lies that had reached every home in Israel. "I never hurt any man or any woman," he said. "I did not do any of the deeds of which I am accused."
He said he would fight the accusations with "every last breath."
The president singled out the media, saying he has survived the past six months and a "media lynch" because he believes in his own innocence, despite a "media court" that has not sought the truth. "I have survived because truth is on my side," he said.
He accused members of media of not stopping for one moment to consider whether the charges were true. The press had not conducted any investigation in the past six months into the veracity of the claims, he said, and had broken every rule of journalistic ethics.
"The charges against me have nothing to do with reality," Katsav said. "When the truth emerges, the citizens of Israel will be shocked."
The president said that he had nothing to be ashamed of, but rather the media should be ashamed of the campaign it waged against him, which began with a condemnation of his appointment as president in 2000.
Katsav urged the people of Israel not to believe the accusations, saying that there was only one truth. He called the charges lies and a slur on his name as a man, citizen and president, and blasted what he said were "unprecedented attacks" on himself and his family.
He also blasted the police, accusing investigators of helping "the media spill my blood." He said that the police had approached the women who had made the complaints against him, rather than the other way around.
The president earlier in the day informed Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik of his decision to declare himself temporarily incapacitated.
The chairman of the Knesset House Committee, Ruhama Avraham, said Wednesday that the panel would meet the following day to vote on the president's request.
Justice Minister Tzipi Livni and Public Security Minister Avi Dichter on Wednesday also joined the calls for the president to step down.
Mazuz decided in principle Tuesday that Katsav would face charges for rape, sexual harassment, obstruction of justice, fraud and breach of trust, pending a hearing on the issue.
Katsav's three-month period of incapacity is due to come to a close once a final decision is made on the indictment, after Katsav presents his case at a hearing.
The president and his defense attorneys believe that there is only a slim chance that a hearing will affect Mazuz' decision to indict.
Katsav was informed of Mazuz's decision in a meeting with his lawyers, after the Justice Ministry gave attorney David Libai a three-page letter detailing the charges. No indictment was attached to the letter.
Libai has asked Mazuz for the investigation material to be sent to him so he can assess how much time he needs to prepare for the hearing. The evidentiary material includes testimony from more than 100 witnesses.
"The president's feeling is one of serious affront," said Zion Amir, another of the president's lawyers. "He had a clear understanding during the whole period that the evidence in the investigation file would lead to a different decision. The decision came down on his head like cold water, but it's important to emphasize that our feeling is that there are holes in this case."
The four women whom Katsav is accused of sexually assaulting include three past and present employees of the President's Residence and one who worked under Katsav during his tenure as tourism minister, in 1998-1999. Mazuz also plans to charge the president with giving away items that belonged to the President's Residence at private events, as well as with obstruction of justice and harassing a witness, for trying to pressure one of the President's Residence employees to retract her complaint against him.
Should Katsav be convicted of all the charges in the draft indictment, he is likely to spend many years in jail. Courts do not generally impose the maximum sentences permitted by law, and they often allow sentences for different crimes to be served simultaneously rather than consecutively. But given the severity of the charges - rape, for instance, carries a maximum sentence of 16 years - it is extremely unlikely that any court would make do with community service or a conditional jail sentence.
Legal sources said that Mazuz will not consent to any plea bargain in which Katsav resigns in exchange for the dropping of the charges against him.
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