Judge Benisch: Court can't sit silently by disrespect of the law

Supreme Court President Dorit Benisch clearly hinted to President Moshe Katsav on Monday that the High Court of Justice does in fact have the authority to rule whether he should be forced to resign, when she said, "the court cannot stand silent in the face of direspect of the law."

Katsav told the court on Monday in an official letter that it has no authority to rule on a petition calling for his resignation or to issue him orders.

In apparent reference to the letter, Benisch said, "It's not arbitrary that today in particular I am exerting judicial activism in the face of the other power authorities. Everybody who thinks that the High Court's authority is limited to rulings on matters compelling public good, as opposed to the unacceptable norms disseminated in Israeli reality today, does not understand the natural tension that exists between authorities."

A petition filed by Josef Fuchs several weeks ago called on the High Court to order Katsav to step down until a final decision is made on whether to charge him with sexual offenses, including rape.

Katsav's response also came after Attorney General Menachem Mazuz said that the court does not have the right to instruct the president how to conduct himself, since the presidency enjoys immunity from any legal proceeding.

Katsav's legal advisor, attorney Yona Sheindorf, on Monday wrote that the president must be removed as a respondent from Fuchs' petition as the court has no right to issue him orders concerning his position and authority, in particular regarding his tenure as president.

In the letter written in Katsav's name, Sheindorf also referred to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's opposition to an opinion ruling by the High Court on the matter of Katsav's resignation.

"The proposals that are detailed below [in the letter]," Sheindorf wrote, "are based on the law of the State of Israel, are asking the honorable court to erase the president as a respondent on the petition. The court has no authority to order him to respond to the petition, or to order the president to suspend himself or resign."

The president did not address, however, the central question of the petition - whether he should suspend himself from his position even before a final decision by the attorney general on whether or not to charge him.

On Sunday, Zion Amir, chief defense attorney for the president told Haaretz that Katsav does not intend to resign before Mazuz makes a final decision on the indictment, and his attorneys are given a chance to participate in a hearing concerning the charges against him.

Amir said that even if Mazuz does decide to press charges against the president in a few weeks, his lawyers intend to examine the investigatory materials relating to Katsav, and to evaluate whether they constitute sufficient evidence to justify bringing criminal charges against their client.

The attorney general said Sunday, however, that Katsav should consider stepping down immediately, adding that it would be inappropriate for the president to continue in his post once the fundamental decision to bring charges against him is made, and that he should therefore not wait for the hearing. Mazuz was responding to a request from the High Court that he take a position on the status of the president under the current circumstances.

Nevertheless, Katsav's aides sought to downplay the significance of the views expressed Sunday by Mazuz, arguing that the attorney general did not say anything new.

Following consultations with his legal advisors, Katsav issued a statement that said that "the duty of the authorities is to do everything to uncover the truth without allowing a media lynch to undermine the investigation of the truth."

He reiterated his claim that he is the victim of false accusations and stated that he was confident of his innocence.

"We shall read the evidence materials," Amir said, "and if we think that the attorney general was mistaken, we will not be shy about making a clear declaration on this matter. If we find in the evidence that there has been a plot against the president, he will not offer his head on a platter. Why should he do such a thing? So that everyone will say in the end, 'Sorry, we were wrong?'"

In essence the stance of the Katsav camp can be interpreted to mean that the president will stay put for at least five to six more months, which is the expected time that will elapse between a decision to indict and the completion of the hearing. This means that even if Katsav steps down prior to the completion of his seven-year tenure, it will be very close to the actual end of his term in July 2007.

In the Katsav camp there was satisfaction Sunday over the view expressed by the attorney general concerning the power of the courts over the president.

Nonetheless, following consultation with the president's lawyers, Prof. David Libai and Amir, it was decided that it would appropriate for Katsav to address the issue of the petition to the High Court. Justice David Cheshin had asked both Mazuz and the president to respond to this a week ago.

	President Moshe Katsav: Won't resign. (Archives)