Katsav must resign

From JPost, Jan. 24, 2007, by ASSOCIATED PRESS ...

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday called on embattled President Moshe Katsav to resign after the attorney general announced his intention to press criminal charges, including rape, against him.

Addressing the annual security conference in Herzliya, Olmert said that "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," Olmert said at the beginning of a policy speech at a security conference.

...and from Ynet News, 24/1/07, by Aviram Zino ....

Livni says President Moshe Katsav must resign, despite his right to the presumption of innocenence, so as not to fight rape charges from the president's office. Internal Security Minister Dichter, Tourism Minister Herzog join Livni's call

Stepping forward as the first government minister to demand his resignation, Foreign Affairs and Justice Minister Tzipi Livni called on President Moshe Katsav to consider what would most befit the institution of the presidency and step down following Attorney General Menachem Mazuz's decision to indict him .

Internal Security Minister Avi Dichter echoed Livni's statements, and called on the president to not only suspend himself temporarily, but to resign.

"The public significance (of the charges) obligates the president to resign and wage his battle outside the president's residence," Dichter concluded.

In a written statement issued Wednesday morning Livni stressed that while from a legal standpoint Katsav is entitled the presumption of innocence, due to the nature and gravity of the accusations against him it would not be fitting for him to fight rape charges from inside the residence of Israel's presidents.

"It is fitting for Katsav to resign," concluded Livni....

Follow this link for the full article, and this link for Ynet News' full coverage of The Katsav Affair