Sex and The Presidency

Few perks come with the job of being Israel's President. You can't dismiss the elected government. You can't even declare war. All you do is cut ribbons and shake hands with a lot of visiting dignitaries and school kids. Still, it beats jail.

And that is what Israel's President Moshe Katsav may be facing: 16 years in prison if he is indicted by the attorney general and found guilty of rape. That's why Katsav's lawyers asked the Knesset on Wednesday to grant him "a temporary suspension from office". This would give the beleaguered president three months of immunity before he is formally charged.

But Israeli parliament is livid with Katsav. Already a petition is making the rounds demanding his impeachment; so far 27 legislators have signed up, and the list is growing. The president can be impeached if 90 of the 120 parliamentarians vote against him. Women members of Knesset, in particular, are fuming. Big-hitter Tzipi Livni, the foreign minister, is among those demanding Katsav's resignation, and Education Minister Yuli Tamir says she's thinking of ripping down the president's portraits from classrooms. "The current situation makes it impossible to educate students to respect the office of the president," she said. "It's an uncomfortable situation. Students are asking 'what is rape?'"

What Israelis can't fathom is why the president alerted lawmen to his alleged sexual wrongdoings in the first place. It was Katsav himself who lodged a complaint against an employee in the presidency claiming that she was trying to blackmail him over a sexual matter. But the more Attorney General Menachem Mazuz started digging into the allegations, the more his probe began to hone in on the president himself. Other women stepped forward also alleging sexual harassment by Katsav. They are described in the Israeli media only by alphabet letters; their identities are being withheld to protect them from victimization.

For his part, Katsav, 62, married with five children, swears he is innocent and his lawyers say he will provide evidence to prove that his enemies are trying to frame him. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert must feel relieved by this scandal. It takes the heat off him; Olmert may face criminal charges for financial misdeeds. Not surprisingly, Israelis are pining for the days, long gone, it seems, of upright leaders.
by Tim McGirk/Jerusalem