Moshe Katzav

Moshe Katzav (2007)

Moshe Katzav ( Hebrew משה קצב[ moˈʃe kaˈʦav ], Persian موسی قصاب, DMG Mūsā Qaṣṣāb [ muːˈsɔː ɢæˈsːɔːb ]; * December 5, 1945 in Yazd , Iran ) is a former Israeli politician ( Likud ). He was the eighth Israeli President from 2000 to 2007 .

Childhood and youth

As a toddler, his family moved with him from his Iranian hometown of Yazd to Tehran . In August 1951 the family emigrated to Israel. He did his military service as a corporal in the communications corps and served as a reservist in the Six-Day and Yom Kippur Wars . Katzav graduated from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem with a degree in economics and history , from which he graduated in 1971 with a bachelor's degree and a teacher certificate.

Political career

In 1969, at the age of 24, he was elected Israel's youngest mayor in the city of Kirjat Mal'achi . As a member of the right-wing Likud alliance, he was a member of the Knesset from 1977 until his election as president in 2000 . From 1981 to 1984 he was Deputy Minister for Construction and Housing, then Minister for Labor and Social Affairs until 1988, then Minister for Transport until 1992. In Benjamin Netanyahu I's cabinet , Katzav was Deputy Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and at the same time Minister of Tourism and Minister for the Arab Israelis .

On July 31, 2000, Moshe Katzav surprisingly won the presidential election in the second ballot with 63 to 57 votes against Shimon Peres and was elected the eighth President of Israel. For the oriental Jews it was of great importance that one of their own was elected to the highest office of the state for the first time.

Criminal proceedings

In 2006, Katzav was accused of rape and sexual assault in several cases. In January 2007, the Prosecutor General's Office announced that they would bring charges against Katzav of sexual assault against at least one of his employees, whereupon Katzav announced his resignation in a note to Parliamentary President Dalia Itzik on June 29, 2007 .

On March 19, 2009, Katzav was charged with rape and sexual assault against three women in a Tel Aviv court. He continued to deny these allegations. On December 30, 2010, he was found guilty of rape of an employee in two cases, sexual harassment in other cases, and obstruction of justice. On March 22, 2011, the sentence was set at seven years imprisonment and two years suspended sentence. In addition, he should pay the equivalent of 20,000 euros in compensation. Katzav laid appeal against the judgment. On November 10, 2011, however, the Supreme Court , chaired by Judge George Karra, upheld the decision of the lower court, whereupon Katzav began his prison sentence on December 7 of the same year. He was released early on December 21, 2016.

Web links

Commons : Mosche Katzav  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Member profile Moshe Katsav , Knesset.
2. ↑ Donna Rosenthal: The Israelis. Living in an extraordinary country. CH Beck, Munich 2008, p. 144.
3. ^ President Katzav is charged with rape. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine. January 23, 2007, accessed January 23, 2007 . 
4. ↑ Jerusalem Post : "Katsav hands in resignation letter to Knesset speaker"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed June 29, 2007.  
5. ↑ BBC News Online : Israeli president Katsav resigns , accessed July 1, 2007.
6. ↑ upi.com: Ex-Israeli leader Katsav indicted for rape, accessed on July 28, 2010.
7. ↑ Rape: Seven years imprisonment for Israel's ex-president  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . heute.de, March 22, 2011 (link no longer available).  
8. ^ Katsav and His Judge - An Extraordinary Judgment , accessed December 13, 2011.
9. ↑ Israel's ex-president has to be behind bars for 7 years tagesschau.sf.tv, November 10, 2011.
10. ↑ Katsav in prison. In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung . December 7, 2011, accessed December 7, 2011 . 
11. ↑ Ex-President Katzav released early from prison. (No longer available online.) In: Deutschlandfunk . December 21, 2016, archived from the original on December 22, 2016 ; accessed on December 21, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.