Moshe Katzav
Moshe KatzavIsrael news photo: Flash 90

A woman who played a central role in the public trial of ex-president Moshe Katzav, now in jail for rape, is facing accusations of stalking.

Known to the public only as "Aleph of the President's Residence," the woman was the first to publicly accuse Katzav of raping her. The matter became public when Katzav went to the attorney general and complained that Aleph was blackmailing him, and demanding $200,000.

Israel's media featured Aleph's complaints against Katzav in an unprecedented live press conference that disguised her identity through pixellation, as she hurled extreme and explicit accusations at Katzav. The press conference was carried on all channels during the daytime hours, with no censorship of any kind. 

Aleph's testimony and character were found to be extremely unreliable and she was eventually dropped completely from the charge sheet against Katzav. However, by then, a powerful public campaign against Katzav was already underway, and more complainants had stepped up. Katzav's claims that Aleph had been blackmailing him were rejected by investigators.

A police officer now claims that Aleph has obsessively stalking him, according to the Mako (Channel 2 news) website.

The officer says that she sent him hundreds of text messages after he decided to split up with her. "The fact that I am half-orphaned and you did what you did to me: I have a father and sister in heaven who will finish you off," she wrote.

"You will die before me. Don't worry, I have seven lives. Good-bye, creep. You are making it difficult for me to enjoy my new life without you," she wrote on another occasion.

"I know how to confront people, even shout and curse," she texted once. "You've seen it. Don't bring out the evil in me, you will regret it." And another time: "Don't let me be wounded, you will regret it until your final day. If I shed one tear, you will shed ten."

The police officer's attorney told Mako that she sent him 300 text messages over several months' time, and attacked him physically. "One day, when he came home from work, he found her at his home. He asked her to leave and she said – 'I am here to confront you.' They argued and when he said that he does not want to see her, she slapped him hard in the face."

Aleph was summoned to questioning, where she denied wrongdoing and accused her former partner of hitting her. This accusation was found to be unreliable.

The complaint against Aleph is now in the hands of the prosecution, which will decide what to do with it. Aleph's lawyer told Mako in response: "My client will not be dragged into mudslinging in the press. The relationship between her and the man ended unpleasantly. However, his complaint against her is unfounded."