The former President of Israel, Moshe Katzav, will stand trial for rape and other offenses, Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz announced Sunday.
Katzav will be charged with rape and forcible indecent acts against an employee of the Tourism Ministry thus far named only by her first initial, Aleph. He will also be charged with committing sexual offenses against other employees of the Tourism Ministry while he served as Tourism Minister, as well as against members of his Presidential staff. He will also be charged with obstruction of justice.
The decision by Mazuz comes two and a half years after the investigations against Katzav began, following an informal complaint lodged by Katzav against (another) Aleph, who worked at the President’s Residence when he was President. Katzav claimed that she was blackmailing him.
The decision is the latest twist in a long saga. For a protracted period after Katzav’s original complaint in July 2006, leaks from the investigation against Katzav supplied Israel’s newspapers with leading headlines, eclipsing even the Second Lebanon War. Katzav’s female accusers were interviewed in most of the media outlets, where they described in detail the indecent acts that Katzav was suspected of committing. Aleph of the President’s Office even gave a news conference – carried live by the major channels – in which she gave graphic descriptions of Katzav’s alleged indecencies. It was arguably the first live nationwide news conference in history given by a person whose identity was not revealed.
On January 23, 2007, Attorney General Mazuz announced he would be indicting Katzav for rape. However, after granting Katzav’s legal team an audience, Mazuz changed his mind and instead negotiated a plea bargain deal with Katzav, which included only far less severe charges of improper sexual behavior.
Katzav surprised the court in April 2008 when he announced he had changed his mind and would not accept the plea bargain. He did, however, resign his position as President.
Sources within the Prosecution said at the time that the case against Katzav was a weak one, because of the lack of evidence and due to the dubious character of the prosecution’s witnesses. Ronen Tzur, media advisor to the former president said that Katzav "was happy for the chance to prove his innocence in court." Tzur added, "For the first time in Israel, the Attorney General decided to try someone whose guilt he is not sure of and the evidence does not justify it." According to Tzur, Katzav took into account that the indictments would be the result of his refusal to accept a plea bargain in the case.