Moshe Katsav will temporarily step aside, but not resign after it was announced that he would be indicted for rape and other sex crimes.
JERUSALEM: Israeli President Moshe Katsav said on Wednesday that he would temporarily step aside, but not resign after it was announced that he would be indicted for rape and other sex crimes
"I announced today to the Knesset that I would suspend myself from my post," a visibly angry Katsav told reporters at his Jerusalem residence.
Katsav, however, refused mounting calls from politicians, media and the public to resign from his largely ceremonial post. "The law does not oblige me to resign," he said. "I will not give in to blackmail."
Katsav, a married father of five, denied the rape allegations against him, calling them venomous, untruthful and without basis. He repeatedly lashed out at the media, police and prosecutors for conducting a "witchhunt."
"I will not hang my head and I will defend my honour," he said. "I will prove my innocence."
Bitter and combative, Katsav sparred with reporters whom he accused of whipping up scandal with false accusations and lies. "Why do you try to hunt me down?" Katsav asked journalists, with his teary-eyed wife and children looking on.
"I don't understand your hate, you the media.... you should be ashamed of yourselves," he spat.
"I was the victim of a shameful plot, a brainwashing by the media," he said. "I was a victim of a witch-hunt... and the police followed the media."
When an Israeli journalist from the privately owned Channel Two Television interrupted him to ask a question, he lashed out.
"Shut up. You can leave if you want," Katsav shouted, pumping an angry fist in the air. "I haven't spoken for six months. Now it's my turn."
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