In honor of Bush’s visit: statue of former president Katsav tucked away
In preparation for US president’s visit to Israeli President’s Residence Wednesday, statues outside building rearranged, statue of former president Moshe Katsav discreetly tucked away
In order to avoid any embarrassing moments, staff decided to rearrange the statues outside the residence in anticipation of Bush's visit, and discreetly tuck away a statue of former President Moshe Katsav, who resigned after impending charges of rape and sexual misconduct were leveled against him.
The aforementioned row of statues, depicting Israel’ various presidents, lies at the entrance to the President’s Residence, right next to where President Bush’s motorcade is expected to park during his visit. Katsav’s statue, hitherto displayed prominently on the right hand side of this procession, was now discreetly tucked away on the left where it was far less prominent.
Welcome Mr. President. Photo courtesy of AP
Staff at the President’s Residence provided a slightly different explanation for this sudden housecleaning, stating that they've "changed the order in which the statues were displayed in order to make room for statues of future presidents.”
Kastav's indictment
Former President Katsav ultimately resigned from the presidency after agreeing to a plea agreement whereupon he would be convicted of “sexual misconduct”, but will not face incarceration.
This plea deal has been heavily criticized ,mainly because of the glaring gap between the initial indictment, which included charges of rape among other allegations of sexual misconduct, and the amended indictment. The High Court of Justice is still deliberating on the validity of this aforementioned plea bargain.
Bush landed in Ben Gurion Airport Wednesday at noon, in what marks his first visit to Israel since entering office. He is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Israeli President Shimon Peres Wednesday, and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday.
The US president arrived to a red-carpet reception at the airport, and shook hands with both Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres upon arrival. The national anthems of both nations then played as Bush, with Olmert in tow, shook hands and briefly spoke with the various ministers and MKs who were on hand to greet him.
