Rivlin adds the rape accusations against ex-president Katsav to his bio

• Published date: 29 December 2020
• Date: 29 December 2020
• Author: GREER FAY CASHMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

Both presidents Shimon Peres and Reuven Rivlin resisted pressure to remove the Katsav bust from the row of faces of the state's former presidents, saying there was no point in trying to change history.

Much as they deplored Katsav's exploitation of female subordinates, which Katsav continued to deny during his trial and while in prison, neither Peres nor Rivlin were prepared to remove the bust, saying there was no way to disprove that Katsav had been the eighth president of Israel.

Peres said visitors to the grounds who were looking at the busts and were aware that Katsav had been president would question the absence of his bust if it was removed, which would draw more attention to his criminal past than if the bust remained in place.

For most of his term, Rivlin maintained the same view. But as sexual offenses against women became an increasingly political issue, and not just a moral one, Rivlin partially acquiesced to the anti-Katsav lobbies and, according to a Maariv report, added to the thumbnail biography on the plaque accompanying Katsav's bust that he had been convicted of rape and was incarcerated.

Katsav was given a seven-year sentence but was released after five years in jail with two years' probation. He has lived a very quiet and religious lifestyle in his hometown of Kiryat Malachi, where he regularly attends synagogue services, studies Talmud and tends to his garden.

It was in Kiryat Malachi, a former transit camp that became a development town, that Katsav launched his political career. Aside from being the first member of...