Israeli president to be charged with rape

[xultar]

Israeli president to be charged with rape

By Jeffrey Heller 31 minutes ago

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prosecutors intend to charge President Moshe Katsav with rape and other crimes against female employees, the Justice Ministry said on Tuesday, in what would be an unprecedented indictment against an Israeli head of state.

Katsav has denied wrongdoing. His post is largely ceremonial and the scandal is unlikely to have a direct impact on Prime Minister Ehud Olmert -- who has himself been hurt politically by a string of investigations into suspected corruption, which he has denied.

The case against Katsav, months in the making, appeared certain to strengthen the feeling among many Israelis that misconduct is rampant at the top.

"The attorney-general, with the agreement of the state attorney, reached the conclusion that there is sufficient prima facie evidence to indict the president," the Justice Ministry said in a statement.

The scandal erupted last year when several former staffers filed complaints with police, accusing Katsav of sex crimes.

snip...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070123/wl_nm/israel_president_dc
DAYUM that is crazy!

[Howardx]

1. countdown 5 4 3 2 1

to someone insisting this needs to be in i/p

[xultar]

2. This has nothing to do with the I/P conflict. NOTHING.

[helderheid]

7. NOT. A. THING.

:thumbsup:

[xultar]

10. I've been talking to Stellanoir and she hipped me to ya'll havin fun in the

Astrology forum. I've been lurking. I'm gonna come hang with y'all soon.

[mmonk]

3. It's not looking good for the current government.

I don't believe Olmert is going to last.

[xultar]

4. Agreed. It's sad though that men in power everywhere feel their penises

deserve equal admiration.

[BayCityProgressive]

5. Where is the Israeli Labor Party?

they have been out of the majority for quite some time. Anyone know where they are on the political spectrum? left of the dems, right of the dems, or about the same?

[Poll_Blind]

15. There's a battle within the Israeli Labour party about how much to deal with Olmert's government.

  Peretz, who is Labour and minister of Defense welcomes working with Olmert's government, which (because of the recent addition of a very racist member to head "Strategic Threats") is causing a rift between those who do work with the devil (Peretz) and those who want to resign from the government entirely (Ofir Paz-Pines, for one).

  As the maxim goes "(blank) is as (blank) does". Up until the collapse of Labour's dynasty in the 80's, they were fairly left-wing. However, like any coalition government, especially coalitions in countries as small as Israel, Labour always included the orthodox, conservative, parties in their governments. Make of that what you may but realize the inclusion of the overtly Avigdor Lieberman is a few steps beyond even what most of the conservative parties would state publicly.

  Chiefly, because those things that Lieberman espouses go right up to the limits (and many would say beyond) what the law against hate-speech and the promotion of terror would allow.

  Once the right took over in Israel they (labour) compromised and compromised, hoping to get back some of the power. Peretz will likely loose in his bid to be leader of the Labour party and that should set the tone for something we identify in America as a little more conventionally-leftist in their party.

My 2 cents, anyway.

PB

[mmonk]

6. It's been a problem as long as I can remember.

[Mandate My Ass]

8. And that's only the tip of the iceberg apparently

Government of Israel pervaded by scandals

Right now, the government of Israel seems at times like an application list for a rogues' gallery.

The prime minister is under investigation for allegedly helping friends in a bank deal; members of his inner office have been arrested in an ugly tax scandal; the president is being investigated on sex-abuse charges, the former justice minister for sexual harassment, and the finance minister for embezzlement; and charges may soon be brought against the defense minister - and head of the Labor Party - for illegal vote-getting. And the list goes on. In addition, two key members of the out-of-power Likud Party also are under investigation....

Part of the increasing prevalence of investigations, Diskin says, reflects how Israel has evolved from a struggling and relatively impoverished country built on socialist ideals into a developed one with a robust free-market economy.

As a result, "Israeli politicians have become much more self-concentrated, more devoted to their personal careers... than in the past," Diskin said.

"Today, the top value is money," said good-government advocate Shraga. "Money disrupts people's radar system. I have no doubt this is a process."




http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/16522063.htm

[xultar]

12. Who was that one senator that chased ladies around tables? Did he visit Israel

and hand out pointers?

[Poll_Blind]

9. If this story were about Ahmadinejad it would likely not be moved.

  I think it's important to ponder, for a moment, why anyone who has been here a length of time is reasonably likely to consider that it will be moved to a different forum, despite the fact that it has nothing to do with a specific geo-political situation and that it has to do with the indictment against a conservative political figure.

  It is rhetorical that I request such an action as many users do the same automatically, to their credit.

PB

[xultar]

11. If you put Israel or Palestine in a post even if it has nothing to do with

the conflict they move it. That's silly.

[Poll_Blind]

13. Silly, by one definition, is "lacking seriousness". The filter is quite regimented and serious. n/t

PB

[xultar]

14. I didn't say the filter isn't serious. I said filtering post with nothing to do with I/P conflict

is silly.

This post...is about the Israeli president and his misbehavior when it comes to women.