Knesset approves Katsav leave

Katsav says he has been subjected to a "trial by media" [AFP]

January 25, 2007

An Israeli parliamentary panel has approved a request by Moshe Katsav, Israel's president, to be suspended from duties after prosecutors drafted an indictment against him for alleged rape and other sexual misconduct.

The Knesset house committee on Thursday voted 13-11 to declare Katsav "temporarily incapacitated".

Katsav's suspension will remain in place until Menachem Mazuz, Israel's attorney-general, decides whether to order a trial.

The president has denied wrongdoing in the scandal but said he would resign if charged.

Ruhama Avraham, the committee chairwoman said: "From this moment the president is temporarily suspended. He can no longer exercise his powers".

Dalia Yitzik, the parliament speaker, becomes interim president, Avraham said, making her Israel's first female head of state.

The leave of absence allows Katsav to retain presidential immunity from prosecution. Katsav's seven-year term runs out in late July.Avraham said that many MPs had wanted tougher measures against Katsav, and discussions to impeach him could begin next week. "For many lawmakers it is not suitable and not correct that the president should be able to continue in his role for a single day longer," she said.Impeachment by a three-quarters parliamentary majority would allow a trial to take place before July.

Mounting pressure

On Wednesday, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, called for Katsav to resign over the allegations Olmert said: "I have no doubt that the president cannot continue and fulfil his position and he should leave the residence of the president of Israel."

Mazuz announced on Tuesday that he planned to indict Katsav on suspicion that he raped a former staff member and sexually assaulted three other women who worked for him. Katsav called the allegations "smears and lies" that were "terrible, hurtful" and said: "I will fight to my last breath to clear my name." He said he had already suffered a "trial by media".

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