Attorney General Menachem Mazuz has ordered members of the General Security Services (Shabak) to testify in the case of President Moshe Katzav. The GSS men work as Katzav’s personal bodyguards, and are with him 24 hours a day.
Mazuz’s order sets a new precedent, as it is the first time in Israeli history that presidential bodyguards have been called on to testify about the president’s life. Members of the GSS expressed anger, saying the move jeopardized the discretion traditionally respected by bodyguards. Future presidents will not be comfortable, they said, knowing that their bodyguards could be forced to reveal the secrets of their personal lives.
Mazuz’s order sets a new precedent, as it is the first time in Israeli history that presidential bodyguards have been called on to testify about the president’s life. Members of the GSS expressed anger, saying the move jeopardized the discretion traditionally respected by bodyguards. Future presidents will not be comfortable, they said, knowing that their bodyguards could be forced to reveal the secrets of their personal lives.