I just want to tell everyone that as of today no fewer than eight women have come forward to the police regarding alleged sexual harrassment by the current President of the state of Israel, Moshe Katsav.

His side is claiming this is some vast organized conspiracy and when the “truth” comes out, he shall be cleared. His wife has been standing by her man as well.

Just as police were nearing the end of the evidence-gathering stage of the sex crimes investigation of President Moshe Katsav, another woman came forward Wednesday with new allegations against the president.

On the same day that police sources said they believed there was enough evidence to press charges against the president that would include two counts of rape and two counts of lesser sexual crimes, a woman who served under Katsav during his tenure as Tourism minister in the Netanyahu government claimed Katsav had harassed her and attempted to persuade her to have sexual relations with him.

Katsav told the woman, she said, that he dreamt about her at night while lying in bed with his wife, and encouraged her to wear button-down shirts and skirts at work for “easier accessibility.”

Katsav’s attorney Zion Amir responded to the new allegations by saying that “there are no bounds to humiliation, and no bounds to chutzpa,” characterizing the woman as a disgruntled former employee.

But eight?!

Katsav has responded in public to the accusation of the second Aleph in the past, saying that she had asked to work for him after the alleged rape and had been rejected.

“I don’t understand how women who claim that I raped them ask to work for me,” he reportedly told the investigators.

Please, please, please let him be innocent. I just cannot imagine anybody that vile sitting in this hallowed office that is symbolic of the leadership of the state of Israel all these years.

By the way, this is the same man who refused to call Conservative and Reform rabbis “rabbi.”

About the author

themiddle

13 Comments

  • At least Katsav got one thing right by refused to call conservative and reform leaders Rabbi!

    Maybe that’s the one thing he got right with his life!

    Shimon Peres probably calls the Pope Rabbi!

  • I believe that there has to be real proof in cases such as this. It is easy to call him a jack ass and declare him guilty. That is for a simpleton. Yes he could be guilty. But proof is needed. DNA, pics, what have you. Even w/ such evidence how do we know that these were not consensual acts? We have seen women make such claims w/ the idea of making millions.

    Until there is such proof it is pathetic to speculate.

  • Steve,

    I agree. It’s slander if there’s no hardcore evidence.

  • What ever happened to women who could just stick up for themselves and say “stay away from me you weirdo unless you want your ass reported”, instead of claiming rape sometime later? I can’t believe they were so helpless as to not to be able to stop a rape or attempted rape by a boss, for heaven sake.

  • Oh Jim, PLEASE. You really think it’s that easy!! Surely if women could stop themselves from being raped then there would be no rapes ever. Don’t be so naive!

  • Jim-

    “what ever happened to women who could just stick up for themselves?”

    There is a reason that sexual harassment is against the law. A person who is a boss is in charge of your job, so you may not be/feel able to confront them or “stand up for yourself.”

    I thought that we had moved away from blaming the victim, but apparently not. To Cactus Jack, again, there is a reason why the laws have made it progressively easier and not harder to report a rape. It is always hard to prove, and often turns into a case of he said/she said. Does that mean that rape victims should just be ignored?

    It is a trite example, but if your sister/mother/girlfriend/wife was raped by her boss, because he was bigger and stronger, and no one was around to hear it, yet he claimed it was consensual, would you feel the same way?

  • TM: Get your act together! As clearly reported by you on this Jewlicious comment, Katsav does call Conservative rabbis, “Rabbi” now. Why? Because, unlike Reform Rabbi Yoffie, who went to the media and created a shit-fit out of nothing, a Conservative rabbi had a heart-to-heart talk with Katsav explaining his views on the matter, and Katsav agreed to call them “Rabbi”. It was a classic example of how one’s tact & approach makes a world of difference. Yoffie was more interested in theatrics and PR than in true dialogue.

  • Well, yeah, okay, but before he conceded to the friendly Conservative rabbi, he did reject calling either Reform or Conservative rabbis “rabbi.” Technically, my post is still correct although I sure do appreciate your input and the effort you’ve put forth to make me appear to be…um, wrong. 🙂

  • LOL, a conservative leader is still not a Rabbi. Your average 9 year old frum from birth kid could school him on Judaism.

    Fake rabbi more like it!

  • Tehcnically speaking, they are Rabbi’s if they are conduction Jewish religious rituals and making decisions. I would say that they are Conservative Rabbi’s, Reform Rabbi’s, but not Orthodox Rabbi’s, since they don’t conform to a relatively unchanging methodology, but rather, they study this past Orthodoxy and decide if and what is relevant to the changing lifestyles.

    SO I would call them Rabbi, out of respect, due to the fact that they spend their time, basically helping people as any Orthodox Rabbi does, that is in the thousands of petty bothersome problems that the Rabbi is privy to, such as the anguish that people do go through, they turn and confide in their Rabbi, but privately, I don’t consider them Orthodox Rabbi’s in any way shape or form, meaning that even if there are those amongst them who know Talmud better than myself, I would not recognize this knowledge on a level that I would utilize.\

    But give them credit, they handle an incredible amount of problems.

  • Steven,

    eh, I’d give them the title “Leader” but definitely not Rabbi. Hillel was a Rabbi. and sorry, to share that title with a reform or conservative leader is just a slap in the face to Hillel, Akiva, and other great Rabbis.

  • Apparantly Katsav is about to be charged – but of course this comes mostly from the Arab press who are drooling over this and Maariv – and nothing in the J.Post so who really knows. On the other hand…