A Daily Analysis
By Marc Schulman

April 8, 2008 Katzav Spurns Plea Agreement

Today’s news from Israel was dominated by former President Katzav’s decision to renege from his plea agreement on the very day it was to be entered into in court.  The agreement called for him to agree to plead guilty to the charge of indecent behavior and avoid the charges of rape.  The agreement, which had been reached months ago, had been widely criticized and the prosecutor’s office had been forced to defend the agreement before a skeptical Supreme Court.

It is not totally clear why Katzav took this step.  Some analysts believe that it is due to the fact that the first complainant who was included in the criminal case was suing Katszav in civil court.  The State Prosecutor has indicated that he would now most likely charge Katzav with multiple counts of rape.  Instead of this embarrassing case being settled, it will drag on.  Katzav has gone from pleading guilty and not receiving any jail time to risking the possibility of a lengthy prison term.