World

Embattled Israeli President Steps Aside

January 25, 2007 / 1:13 PM EST / CBS/AP

President Moshe Katsav, who faces rape and other sexual assault charges, stepped aside Thursday after lawmakers approved a leave of absence.

A parliamentary panel voted 13-11 to approve Katsav's request for a leave that could extend up to six months.

Katsav has called the impending rape and other sexual assault charges the product of "poisonous, horrible lies."

In other developments:

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Thursday that Israel's negotiations with Palestinians must stick to the vision of two states, side by side, as the only way to achieve peace in the region. With Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas watching, Livni told the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum that a Palestinian state is "not an illusion. It's there, it's achievable."

Abbas said that if he cannot form a unity government with Hamas officials, he would move to call early elections, but gave no specific timetable.

Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres announced that Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians should band together to promote an economic zone to drive investment in the region.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says Israel has full freedom of action to deal with Iran, and warned that anyone who threatens Israel's existence, must know without a doubt, that Israel will defend itself, by all means necessary, including force. CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports Israel has been warning that it will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon for more than a year, since the Iranian president threatened to wipe the Jewish state off the map.

Israel has released the deported former imam of Ohio's biggest mosque after a military court ruled there wasn't enough evidence to hold him on charges of ties to a Palestinian militant group, his lawyer said Thursday. Fawaz Damra served as imam at the Islamic Center of Cleveland, and has three American-born daughters. He was deported by U.S. authorities because he lied when applying for American citizenship in 1994 about his links to Islamic Jihad, a group classified by Israel and the U.S. as a terrorist organization.

A group of Israeli women has petitioned Israel's Supreme Court to prevent bus companies from enforcing the separation of men and women on buses running through some ultra Orthodox neighborhoods. Women in those neighborhoods are required to sit in the back of the bus. The petition points to a growing divide between secular and ultra-Orthodox Israelis, reports Berger. The petitioners said segregation violates women's rights and they do not want Israel to turn into a Taliban country.

An Israeli human rights group called on the Israeli army on Thursday to stop using undercover troops in Palestinian areas after four civilians were killed in a botched West Bank military operation. The civilians would have stayed clear of the area if the soldiers had been wearing uniforms, B'Tselem said.

Katsav had asked parliament Wednesday to suspend him from office while he fought to clear his name. However, dozens of parliamentarians have decided to pursue impeachment proceedings against him next week so he could face trial, reports Berger, though Knesset approval is unlikely. Top officials, including the premier, beseeched Katsav to stop clinging to office and allow the nation to heal.

"Under these circumstances, there is no doubt in my mind that the president cannot continue to fulfill his position and he must leave the president's residence," Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said.

Attorney General Meni Mazuz notified Katsav Tuesday that he intended to press charges of rape, sexual assault and abuse of power, but said he would first give the president an opportunity to plead his case before him.

A poll published Thursday in the mass circulation Yediot Ahronot newspaper showed that 71 percent of respondents want Katsav to resign at once, while 29 percent said he need not quit now. The poll, conducted by the Dahaf institute, quizzed 516 people. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.

Resignation or dismissal would have deprived Katsav, 61, of his presidential immunity. Katsav's seven-year term is to end this summer. If he leaves office early, parliamentary speaker Dalia Itzik would become acting president until the parliament chooses a replacement.

Removal of a president requires a three-fourths majority in the 120-seat parliament, and analysts said it might have been difficult to reach such a number. By contrast, a majority of parliament's 25-member House Committee could approve his request to stand down temporarily.

During his speech Wednesday, Katsav said he would resign if officially indicted. "I will not stay in this house for one more second. I will resign," he pledged.

The presidency, a mainly ceremonial post, was traditionally filled by statesmen and national heroes who were expected to serve as the moral light of the country. Accusations that Katsav used his position to force himself on female employees have infuriated Israelis.

At a stormy, nationally televised speech at his official residence Wednesday night, Katsav professed his innocence and accused the police and media of working together to bring him down, using terms like "witch hunt" and "McCarthyism." He angrily pounded the podium and his voice cracked during a rambling diatribe that lasted nearly an hour.

"Don't believe the libel, the defamation, the lies. There is only one truth ... I am the target of one of the worst attacks in the history of the state of Israel," he said, gesturing with a pointed finger, pounding on the podium and shouting at a reporter. He pledged to "fight to my last breath, even if it means a world war, to clear my name."

He refused to answer questions from reporters in his first appearance before them since the scandal broke six months ago.

Katsav "should not be waging the battle to prove his innocence from the president's office," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who also serves as acting justice minister, said in a statement.

Thirty of parliament's 120 lawmakers — 10 more than required — signed a motion to begin impeachment proceedings, and nearly 70 already have said they would vote to remove Katsav, according to the office of lawmaker Zehava Galon, who initiated the drive.

In an effort to blunt the protests, Katsav asked parliament on Wednesday to grant him a leave of absence.

Minister of Public Security Avi Dichter brushed off Katsav's suggestion, saying he "must not cling to the post, not even for a few months."

But the president, who was born in Iran, was defiant and implied that the charges against him were motivated by racism against Israelis of Middle Eastern origin, who have traditionally been marginalized here.

His wife, Gila, sat softly crying in the audience.

No sitting Israeli president has ever been charged with a crime. But the Israeli public has grown accustomed to the spectacle of politicians mired in corruption scandals. Former Justice Minister Haim Ramon is currently being tried in a separate sexual misconduct case, and Olmert is under investigation for his role in the sale of a government-controlled bank.