At least five women who worked with President Moshe Katsav before he became president said he sexually harassed them, Haaretz has learned. The accusations - all by women who refuse to be publicly identified - came amid reports aired over the weekend that Katsav sexually harassed a former employee at the President's Residence.

After reports about the former employee, identified only as A., Katsav indicated that she had attempted to blackmail him, and Attorney General Menachem Mazuz opened an investigation into the matter Wednesday.

The testimonies of the five women, both firsthand and indirect, indicate a pattern in which Katsav took advantage of his position to sexually harass them, turning from a boss with a pleasant manner into one who makes comments with sexual overtones, and then moves on to attempt sexual contact. The women said that when they refused his overtures, they encountered a cold and patronizing attitude to the point where they felt compelled to quit.

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"When I came to the minister's office, they told me: 'We'll see if you get through the first 100 days'," recalled B., who said Katsav sexually harassed her while she was working at his office during the time he served as a minister. "I didn't understand. I was innocent. I didn't know that they were hinting about what was going to happen. I didn't know that the minister's behavior is the best-kept secret in the system. The pattern was to take advantage and toss aside. Everyone knew and kept silent."

If the women's allegations are verified in a court of law, the Knesset has the power to remove the President if his behavior is deemed "unsuitable."

The President's Residence refused to respond to anonymous complaints.

"We cannot address anonymous incidents that pretend to describe some activity or other," the President's Residence said in a statement. "Based on the information in the Haaretz request, there is no truth to the complaints, and they are apparently the symptom of the latest trend."

All the women who spoke to Haaretz reporters this week expressed fear of Katsav's power, and all those who decided to speak out requested anonymity. Some asked that identifying details - such as where they worked and what they did - be changed.

"I have been waiting for years with this story," said B. "And the truth is, I admit, I was silent. More than once I thought, 'Why do I have to get tangled up with him?'"

B. said Katsav used to make inappropriate comments to her, and would call her up at home.

"When I came to the office, he heaped compliments on me," she said. "I'm a pretty and well-dressed girl, and he started complimenting my appearance: 'That hairstyle suits you,' 'You're very pretty.' There were also comments about my chest. It got progressively worse."

Some comments were loaded with "sexual implications that could not be interpreted otherwise," B. said. "He would tell me how at night he was having a good time with Gila, his wife, in bed, and was thinking about me. He would call me at home, and the conversations were not about security matters or politics. In the morning he would come in, pass by my desk, say, 'Good morning, come in, come into my room. I couldn't wait to see you.' I would go into the room with work papers. I was still innocent. Everyone knew - it was the secret of the whole office."

Later on, B. said, the harassment moved up a notch, and she quit in anger.

"At a certain stage he tried to touch me. It happened several times," she said. "The moment I refused, he started excluding me at work. He would humiliate me, go to other secretaries who worked under me instead of turning to me. When he wanted to get me mad, he would ask me to send another girl into the room. Another time, when the whole office went on a trip, he would leave me in the office. The dirt started to get out, people gossiped. It was intolerable."

When B. decided to quit, she said Katsav sent people to offer her other work and recommendations from the minister, but she refused their offers. "They asked me, 'What can we do so it ends well?'" she said.

Other women told similar stories, including a woman who told Maariv this week that Katsav "really tried to forcibly push his hands into my shirt, my skirt, and I shoved him away."

The President's Residence said the woman who spoke to Maariv applied for work at the residence despite the alleged harassment, adding that "all the stories turn out to be baseless."

Some women encountered verbal harassment only.

"I personally didn't see anything besides verbal teasing," said one woman who worked with Katsav. "Verbal teasing can also be harassment. It was primarily aimed at small and weak clerks who were unable to shut him up."

A former senior Transportation Ministry official said that when Katsav was transportation minister between 1988 and 1992, the office was rife with stories of harassment.

"He liked them skinny and young," she said. "I remember an incident in which someone was wearing a thin shirt, and he sprayed water on her chest. The time has come to publicize it."

"When I came to the minister's office, they told me: 'We'll see if you get through the first 100 days'," recalled B., who said Katsav sexually harassed her while she was working at his office during the time he served as a minister. "I didn't understand. I was innocent. I didn't know that they were hinting about what was going to happen. I didn't know that the minister's behavior is the best-kept secret in the system. The pattern was to take advantage and toss aside. Everyone knew and kept silent."

The President's Residence refused to respond to anonymous complaints.

"We cannot address anonymous incidents that pretend to describe some activity or other," the President's Residence said in a statement. "Based on the information in the Haaretz request, there is no truth to the complaints, and they are apparently the symptom of the latest trend."

All the women who spoke to Haaretz reporters this week expressed fear of Katsav's power, and all those who decided to speak out requested anonymity. Some asked that identifying details - such as where they worked and what they did - be changed.

"I have been waiting for years with this story," said B. "And the truth is, I admit, I was silent. More than once I thought, 'Why do I have to get tangled up with him?'"

B. said Katsav used to make inappropriate comments to her, and would call her up at home.

"When I came to the office, he heaped compliments on me," she said. "I'm a pretty and well-dressed girl, and he started complimenting my appearance: 'That hairstyle suits you,' 'You're very pretty.' There were also comments about my chest. It got progressively worse."

Some comments were loaded with "sexual implications that could not be interpreted otherwise," B. said. "He would tell me how at night he was having a good time with Gila, his wife, in bed, and was thinking about me. He would call me at home, and the conversations were not about security matters or politics. In the morning he would come in, pass by my desk, say, 'Good morning, come in, come into my room. I couldn't wait to see you.' I would go into the room with work papers. I was still innocent. Everyone knew - it was the secret of the whole office."

Later on, B. said, the harassment moved up a notch, and she quit in anger.

"At a certain stage he tried to touch me. It happened several times," she said. "The moment I refused, he started excluding me at work. He would humiliate me, go to other secretaries who worked under me instead of turning to me. When he wanted to get me mad, he would ask me to send another girl into the room. Another time, when the whole office went on a trip, he would leave me in the office. The dirt started to get out, people gossiped. It was intolerable."

When B. decided to quit, she said Katsav sent people to offer her other work and recommendations from the minister, but she refused their offers. "They asked me, 'What can we do so it ends well?'" she said.

Other women told similar stories, including a woman who told Maariv this week that Katsav "really tried to forcibly push his hands into my shirt, my skirt, and I shoved him away."

The President's Residence said the woman who spoke to Maariv applied for work at the residence despite the alleged harassment, adding that "all the stories turn out to be baseless."

Some women encountered verbal harassment only.

"I personally didn't see anything besides verbal teasing," said one woman who worked with Katsav. "Verbal teasing can also be harassment. It was primarily aimed at small and weak clerks who were unable to shut him up."

A former senior Transportation Ministry official said that when Katsav was transportation minister between 1988 and 1992, the office was rife with stories of harassment.

"He liked them skinny and young," she said. "I remember an incident in which someone was wearing a thin shirt, and he sprayed water on her chest. The time has come to publicize it."

Amiram Barkat contributed to this article.