The Ex-President is a sex offender and should do sometime. Ramon also should have. Both of these men have abused their office and gotten off lightly. There are serious problems in the courts to allow such easy sentences, even Offer Glazer should have gotten more time.

Let's hope the outraged public and not the pols win this conflict. Justice in a democracy should not be only for the powerful. The whole world is watching.

What's wrong with you Israelis. Your country is being mismanaged, given away in pieces to your enemies, your people are expelled from their homes and have to live in tents, or are hit daily by rocket attacks, you are NOT prepared for the next war, and you get your knickers all in a twist because of some sex scandal? OH PLEEEEASE....!!!!!!!!!!! I need an aspirin, this is just too much. I don't want to hear any self-righteous speeches about morality. What I want to hear is how are you, Israelis, going to show the world that you CARE FOR YOUR LAND, you care FOR YOUR SECURITY. While the papers are full of this kind of issues, your enemies are arming themselves, the US keeps pushing for more concessions from Israel, Gaza is all but lost.... Wake up Israelis, get your eyes away from the sexy pages and face up to your REAL PROBLEMS, and then DEMONSTRATE. But do it for something that will save your country from destruction. Morality? Start by teaching Torah principles in schools. You love your secular education, right? The result is loose morals and corruption. But first things first. Demonstrate for new elections. Demonstrate to keep the Golan, the WB, Gaza...

What a poor excuse. 1. You knew about a statute of limitation before this case came to light and you still acted on it. 2. You admit that there is more than meets the eye in the actions of Katzav infact you call him a "sex offender" How could you let him off with only conditional house arrest? 3. Why not let the courts decide at worst you may lose the case, so what, as long is justice is served. You have denided this right to the women he has hurt and to the country as a whole

Thanks, Tammy, for your scathing attack on Israelis for the problems they have. You point out some goods ones I bet they didn't know about: like how they are surrounded by arabs who want to kill them and their government sucks. But please pardon them for protesting when their President is about to get away with raping a staff member without doing jail time. I for one think its a good start of issues to take to the streets about. Kol Hakavod Israelis - keep fighting for the better government and the higher level of justice you deserve in your wonderful country!

Well, sex really seems to cloud the minds of some Americans as well. There is NO EVIDENCE that rape occurred. All the circumstancial evidence goes to point to a woman with either very questionable judgment, or someone with an agenda of her own. NO ONE these days goes to work at a presidential office, day after day, if she's going to suffer sexual assault and NEVER submit a formal complaint or quit. I'm sorry, but I don't buy her story. There is a lot behind it that is not being revealed. It's not the case of some stranger sneaking into an office and assaulting a lone worker. What did she do to rebuff him? Did she say, oh, please Mr President, don't do that (giggle, giggle)? No modern woman with a normal IQ would undergo a situation the way this woman presents it. Either she's being used by others for political reason, or it's a personal vendetta.

In the time of Monica Lewnisky's affair, the Americans did not show any demonstration of craziness. But in Israel, they show a lot of crazy demos!

This is unbelievable, and even despicable. An attorney general (Mr. Mazuz) chosen for the job based on his "ksharim" (connections/political affiliations) rather than "kishurim" (talent), and the result is that he backs down when faced by Katzav's top notch lawyers. It seems that the Israeli justice system is the best that money & status can buy.

You may be right about this woman pretending the whole story about being raped. But in any true democracy this is up to the courts to determine and judge. It is not up to you, or me, or any other powerful personality such as Mazuz. I respect Israelis for pressing for the right judicial process to take place, as no matter how powerful an army or how well protected borders a country may have, if it does not have solid moral foundations it is bound to fail in the long run.

and the court can still sentence him to jail. I believe that he can be be jailed for 7 years for the charges that he's admitted to. The suspended sentence is only a recommendation. Let's see what happens in the courtroom ?!

Isaiah 1:26..." And I will restore to you your judges like you originally had at the first, and your counsellors(lawyers)like you had at the begining. And when I do this, you shall called the righteous city, the faithful city". In order for a government to change, they need to change their judges who pass the laws that people are to live by. Get good judges, and the government begins to turn back to morality. IE: John Roberts, Samuel Alito. There are 2 many corrupt leaders in the Israeli government as well as the US. But change will come.

I'm inclined to agree with #7. No woman is going to continue to go to work for a man that raped her. No doubt there was sexual harassement,which is wrong..but why did she keep going back? There's more to this than meets the eye..however the court must decide.

but the lefties remain silent. Lets get to the real problem of all this corruption, and that is the whole government run by Olmert the appeaser. Start more protests to oust this government and ger rid of the corruption. Dont forget Mazuz , like Peres was appointed by Olmert,

the first stone at Moshe Katsav. That is what Rabbi Yeshua said to the attackers of Mary Magdalene who was about to be stoned to death, but not the man she was caught with. Nearly two thousand years later, it is the MAN who is being stoned in the press and the courts, without protests against what the women did.

If there was a rape or wasn't a rape is for a court to decide, not Meni Mazuz. Obviously I don't know - you're right - I wasn't there and heard no testimony. But the plea bargain implies that the evidence is solidly against Katsav. It needs to be overruled and the case tried with jail time on the table.

when it comes to women, only not gay people. We love you anyhow!

If I were an Israeli, I would be protesting the treatment over 1 yr later of the 8,000 expellees. I would protest the pending Iranian bomb. I would be concerned that Hezbollah is better armed, and Hamas seems hell bent in it's ultimate goals. I would not care about alleged morality lapses by the Pres., until proven guilty..in a court of law. It's all a he said, she said. 20,000 should protest the Orthodox stranglehood. They should be worrying more about the Pope's bringing back the "Perficious Jew" charge. I would protest Britain. Where are Israelis heads at I wonder? Are they as confused as they appear to the rest of US?

And for the 20,000 protesters - GET A LIFE, do you see how olmert & co. are destroying your country and the only thing on your mind is clearly some sick woman & a horny man

As anyone

They protest like crazy when it comes to anything sexual but don't protest the self destructive government that is destroying their lives one day at a time.

Interesting how the Lefties are all upset the Katzav ALLEGDLY Rapped some woman. What did these same concerned citizens say about Bill Clinton being a serial rapist and womanizer? Or any other lefty Israeli politician who is known for this and other coruption? You could probably write a book about their Hypocrisy. You are worried about children? teach them Jewish ethichs and maroals in school then politicians would know better.

So, this odious little man is going to get off unscathed? He's going to enjoy his 40,000 shekel a month pension, plus other benefits, all paid for by the same tax payers who have been refused proper justice? How can that be? Where does this leave women? It leaves us open to all kinds of sexual abuse from perverts, all knowing they can avert justice by a plea bargain. This is indeed a very very sad day for every citizen in Israel. This case MUST go to the high court and voices must be heard, otherwise, we may as well abolish the judicial system in this country. Right now, there is one law for the public and one law for members of Knesset and other dignitaries. What an abhorrent and disgraceful country we live in. And the picture of the president in school classrooms? Who is going to tell the children that the president molests women, abuses his power, flaunts the law and gets away with it . And that mummy and daddy are paying tax so that this man can live better than most of the law abiding decent folk of this country.

Monica Lewnisky was not raped. She willingly was with Clinton. He did not force himself on her. Mr. Katzav has forced himself on A and not only on her, on a lot of other women. The unfortunate thing is that it is his word against hers. He is a powerful man, she is just a citizen who had a golden opportunity to have a once in a lifetime position. He abused his power and this is very typical of the israeli society, men who think that they are allowed to do and say anything they want. She didn't go to complain because when you are raped, you are in shock, especially when it is by a President. Please all the smart people thinking that this is so trivial. Who would have believed her? Who believes her now? What would you have done if it was your daughter, your sister, your wife who was so terrorised she would not say anything about it? Why should a woman's career, life and security be jeopardized because a jerk can't keep his zipper closed? I think that a tool should be invented to document such things so that they would be proof. This man is a well known womanizer. Journalists and people working around him knew of his very inappropriate behavior. So, why suddenly believe that this is a set up? This is the country of corruption and the kingdom of rapists. The dictatorship of the powerful and the corrupt. It is the law of the jungle and the place for the mafia. I think that if Katzav was truly innocent, he would have fought for his innocence through the end. If he was so sensitive about his family, he should have started with keeping his pants closed and not hurt them like what he did. I have no idea how his wife can even look at him... Well of course, what can she do, he is the "bread winner". He is a disgusting scumbag. He is a liar and a cheat, that has been proven and he has also admitted it. I believe that there is a lot more that he is not admitting. Everything in this country is wrong: the laws, the legal system, the judges, moral standards. Corruption is the law here. Those who criticize the leftists and claim that this is a setup are exactly similar to those that keep blaming Israel for everything that happens with the Palestinians. Women that are raped are in shock and don't know what to do about it and for a good reason. Nobody believes them, and the proof is here. She was frightened, threatened and she didn't know whether she would ever have such a job again in her life. #21 - We do need to protest all of these things too, you are right, but not instead. There is no reason why any woman should feel threatened when she goes to work. #22 - this woman is not sick, she is a victim like many other women who can't go to work and have a career without feeling threatened because men can't keep their pants closed. We should protest injustices and fight for justice but if we can't start by curing that the disease that is eating up this country from within, then we are no better than our ennemies. The only democracy in the Middle-East is actually ruled by powerful, corrupt dictators who can't keep their pants up. How can they rule a country? How can this be a "democracy". This is what men do in war time, they rape women as a tool to fight the ennemy! The war start within our borders. In this democracy, we are our own ennemies. The jewish people take advantage of other jewish people. I have never seen in any country people take advantage of others like how they do it here. Yet men have problems keeping up the pants everywhere. Only, in the US, they would not get away with such a thing. In this country men in powerful positions take advantage of women. This is a decadent place. While our neighbors are fighting each other, we are doing the same thing with the blessing of the corrupt justice.

No one could have said it better. Right on!!!

You make some great points, I couldn't agree more. This whole sordid affair is both criminal and disgusting. It typifies Israeli society at its worst, where men of power can do what they want , when they want and just walk away, especially with regards to women. Maybe Israeli women should hold a national strike to protest this slap in the face to morality and decency. Katsav is nothing more than a common criminal.