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Former Israeli President Moshe Katzav begins jail terms for rape

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REPORTING FROM JERUSALEM -- Seconds after entering a prison in central Israel, the door closed behind Moshe Katzav and on a legal, public and personal drama that roiled the country for 5½ years.

Katzav, an Iranian immigrant boy made good, patiently rose through the ranks of Israeli politics to the very top, elected to serve as the country’s eighth president in 2000. In 2006, a disgraced Katzav stepped down over accusations of sexual assault.

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The former president was convicted a year ago of two charges of rape in cases involving former employees, as well as sexual harassment and obstruction of justice. On Wednesday he began serving a seven-year prison term after losing his appeal last month.

Local and international media covered the former president’s last hours as a free citizen extensively, as throngs of supporters and neighbors crowded the street in a commotion out of character for the sleepy southern town of Kiryat Malachi.

Emerging at last from the blue doors of his house that were flanked by two policemen, Katzav walked right into a tight huddle of supporters and his plans for a dignified last public statement were nearly undone by a street-side stampede and cries like ‘Moshe, be strong.’

When he finally spoke, Katzav had harsh words for the justice system, prosecution and police. ‘A man is being executed today,’ he repeated again and again. ‘One day, the truth shall be revealed’ -- even if it is after his death -- said Katzav.

One day ‘you will see you buried a man alive,’ he charged authorities, with the same bitter anger that characterized his few public statements in recent years.

He implored the public to read his appeal.

‘I don’t have to present further evidence. The material contains my acquittal, read it,’ he said.

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According to media reports, Katzav’s supporters intend to launch a website containing all the legal material.

-- Batsheva Sobelman

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