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Anyone who spends any time reading the Israeli press knows about the sorry mess the country finds itself in. I’m not talking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict though that is a sorry mess. I’m talking about the rampant corruption and self-dealing of both the political and business class. A senior minister is convicted of French-kissing a young soldier, yet it appears he’s about to be reappointed a minister. Ariel Sharon’s son is convicted of political corruption. Ehud Olmert himself stands accused of various business deals that enriched himself handsomely. The day the Lebanon war began the chief of staff took time out of his supposedly busy schedule to personally call his bank to sell a substantial portion of his portfolio presumably because he knew it might tank during a war.
But the episode that has me exercised tonight is the “get out of jail free” card Israel’s attorney general handed to Israeli president Moshe Katsav who was about to stand trial on rape charges:
Israel’s disgraced president, Moshe Katsav, submitted his resignation to Parliament on Friday morning amid fierce public criticism over the deal by which rape charges against him were dropped in exchange for an admission of guilt for lesser offenses.
Moshe Katsav sent a letter of resignation to the speaker of Parliament on Friday. It will take effect on Monday and he will serve no jail time.
Mr. Katsav’s resignation will take effect on Monday, when he will be charged with committing an indecent act without consent, sexual harassing two women and harassing a witness, the attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, said Thursday…
The deal and Mr. Mazuz came under harsh attack. Yediot Aharonot, the largest newspaper in the country, headlined the arrangement “A Deal of Shame” on the front page. Mordechai Kremnitzer of Hebrew University, one of Israel’s pre-eminent legal scholars, told Israel Radio that Mr. Mazuz had “sinned” and had “damaged the principle of equality before the law.”
Ordinarily, just one offense of indecent assault would warrant seven years in prison, according to Emmanuel Gross, a law professor at Haifa University, and in this case probably more, because the charge is aggravated by an abuse of power. But Mr. Katsav will receive a one-year suspended sentence and pay less than $12,000 in compensation to the two women.
Why the firestorm? Because he stood accused of raping employees in the President’s mansion. In addition, when he was a lowly government minister he had also engaged in similar harassing behavior toward his female subordinates. He had a history that was well-documented.
After the story first broke, he and his supporters exerted pressure on the victims and other witnesses not to participate in the investigation. This is a person who deserved to have the book thrown at him. Instead of seven years in the slammer and paying substantial restitution to his victims, he gets off with barely a slap on the wrist. We are supposed to feel that justice is being done because Katsav has to publicly admit his crimes in court before being sentenced. I’m sorry but this is hollow and turns Israeli justice into an empty shell.
Why does a powerful Israeli pol once again walk away from punishment after engaging in acts of violence against women? First, it seems there is a definite good old boy network at play in which pols protect pols. Second, the attorney general appears to have felt it more important to protect the ‘dignity’ of the office of the President than to protect the women of Israel from a sexual predator. This from Haaretz:
Mazuz said he believes the agreement was in the public’s interest. “This agreement minimizes the harm to the institution of the presidency,” the attorney general said. “It was important to spare Israel the sight of a president on trial.”
Third, Israeli society is filled with rampant sexism that justifies, whether overtly or covertly, the subordination of women and their interests.
Interestingly, the attorney general has refused a request by Haaretz to release the original indictment against Katsav so the public can compare the original charges with the final plea deal to see what was given away. Yet another example of the lack of transparency that afflicts Israeli justice.
Thankfully, someone is protesting against this sham and shame of justice:
On Sunday morning a petition is to be submitted to the High Court of Justice to vacate the plea bargain. The petition is to be submitted by the Movement for Quality Government; the Israel Women’s Network; Itach, a women’s social action association; and the umbrella organization The Women’s Coalition.
The organizations will also ask the High Court to issue an interim order to stop the approval process of the plea bargain. “The extreme lack of reasonableness in Mazuz’s decision,” the petition states, “stems from the fact that he backtracked on his original intention to indict the president with more serious accusations – including rape and serious indecent acts.”
Gideon Levy’s current column lambasts Mazuz for his capitulation:
Menachem Mazuz has made it [the Israeli justice system] irrelevant. For the second time in his career, Mazuz flinched at the moment of truth and retreated: He did so the first time in the Greek island affair [a corruption scandal involving Ariel Sharon] and now with regard to Moshe Katsav.
Someone who has succeeded until now in creating the impression that he is carrying out his role with courage and integrity has made the blunder of a lifetime – for the second time. Someone who just days ago delivered a scathing speech condemning the corruption spreading through Israeli society made a decision that increases the lack of trust in the justice system, the inequality before the law and the reticence of a large number of victims from filing complaints.
…An Israel that places its president on trial without cutting any deals is a much stronger Israel than one that lacks equality before the law, one in which hearings – for VIPs only – can change matters completely.
… We are left with a large doubt eating away at our hearts: Did we have a rapist president or a failed attorney general?
…Now Mazuz came and told the complainant: “Save yourself this disgrace. There’s no point in it.” Years of efforts to encourage victims of sexual assault to summon the courage to complain suddenly collapsed. From now on, every Hebrew woman will know: If your boss has harassed you again, pulled out his sexual organ or pinned his body against yours by the bookcase, has suggested that you come to work without underwear or has even raped you – deal with it on your own. Mazuz’s state will not come to your defense, particularly when a public official is involved.
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Dershowitz advice to Jewish liberals: “Suck it up you kapos.”
