Israeli President Katsav to Resign to Avoid Rape Charges

From Al Jazeera English:

Moshe Katsav, Israel’s president, has signed a plea bargain that will force him to resign but includes no rape charges and entails no jail time, Meni Mazuz, Israel’s attorney-general, said.

In the space of a year, Katsav has sunk from being “Israel’s number one citizen to a convicted sex offender,” Mazuz said on Thursday at a news conference.

Kinneret Barashi, a lawyer for one of the victims, expressed outrage at the plea bargain and a women’s rights’ advocate said it would discourage other women from complaining about sexual crimes.

Barashi said her client “feels she is a victim for the second time”.

Zahava Gal-On, a politician and women’s rights campaigner, accused Mazuz of moral cowardice.

Gal-On said: “Victims of sex crimes will believe they do not have any shield.”

Abrupt end

Israel’s high-level officials, including the prime minister, have been increasingly implicated in scandals.

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• Al Jazeera English: Israeli president Katsav to resign