MK: President should not visit classrooms
President Katsav, his wife visit school in Givat Shmuel Sunday morning; MK Yacimovich doesn't like it in light of latest affair. 'Someone being investigated by police for sex offenses should not come in contact with children. This is dangerous message,' she says
Chairperson of the Committee on Rights of the Child Knesset Member Shelly Yacimovich (Labor) called on President Moshe Katsav not to visit schools.
According to her, "someone being investigated by the police for sex offenses should not come in contact with children. The message passed on to young girls is that sex offenses are inconsequential - and this is a dangerous message."
President Katsav and his wife Gila accompanied their eldest grandson to first grade Sunday in Givat Shmuel. They were escorted by the town's mayor, Zamir Ben-Ari and officials in the local school system.
President Moshe Katsav with first graders starting school in Givat Shmuel (Photo: Avi Cohen)
"Gila and I are very happy to take part with you in the start of the school year. We are excited that our grandson is starting first grade. This is a celebration for our family to see our eldest grandson start school," Katsav said.
Students in first and second grade greeted the president and his wife with flags. The student Shirin Rosenberg read for the president. For Shirin this provided some closure because five and a half years ago, Katsav consoled her family when her 14-year-old brother Eliran was killed in a terrorist attack at the gas station in Alfei Menashe.
Following his visit, the president went to the new Yigal Alon kindergarten to visit the first graders and kindergarteners starting school for the first time.
The complainant in the investigation against President Moshe Katsav, A, met with MK Yacimovich last week, and told her of events she had allegedly been through at the President's Residence.
"I sat and listened for a few hours to a detailed account of an alleged web of sex offenses from sexual harassment to rape," Yacimovich told Ynet. "It is a broad spectrum – starting with sexual harassment and including forceful rape. Based on my impression and my rich experience with many rape victims – her testimony is very credible."
Katsav later slammed Yacimovich for siding with the plaintiff.
"What she is doing is simply trying to fill the duty of (High Court President) Aharon Barak, (Attorney General) Menachem Mazuz, and (Police Chief) Moshe Karadi, the big priest, the big judge, the big police chief, the Attorney General," Katsav said of Yacimovich.
Avi Cohen contributed to this report
