The Iranian-born Qatsav was convicted last December of raping a female former employee when he was a cabinet minister and sexually harassing two other women while president from 2000 to 2007.
He remained free while appealing, but the Supreme Court upheld the conviction last month and ordered him to prison. TV footage showed him entering the Maasiyahu prison, where he became the highest-ranking Israeli official ever to be imprisoned.
Qatsav looked agitated as he addressed journalists before beginning his sentence. He accused authorities of ignoring evidence that could clear him and claimed “the truth will come to light.”
“The state of Israel is executing a man today on the basis of impressions, without real time testimony, without evidence,” Qatsav said. “One day, con- sciences will prick and you will see that you buried a man alive.”
In the absence of forensic evidence, prosecutors built their case almost entirely on witness testimony. Legal experts said the similarities in the accounts of victims, who did not know one an- other, prompted the conviction.
Prison officials say Qatsav has been placed in a section of the jail reserved for observant Jews and will share a cell with Shlomo Benizri, a former cabinet minister convicted of accepting bribes.
The case against Qatsav developed in 2006 after he told police one of his former staffers was trying to extort money from him. That set off an investigation that resulted in the rape and harassment charges.
Shortly after the accusations came to light, Qatsav held a news conference to accuse prosecutors and the media of plotting his demise because he did not belong to the country’s European-descended elite. “The fact is, I am from a Muslim country,” he said
Qatsav resigned from the presidency two weeks before his term was due to expire under a plea bargain that would have allowed him to escape jail. But he soon rejected the plea bargain and vowed to prove his innocence in court.
After serving a quarter of his sentence or 21 months, Qatsav will be eligible for short furloughs and can apply to have his term shortened.
Israel started out as a warrior culture in which it was accepted that men could rule over women. After a few decades, attitudes began to change and Israel took on a more Western view of the rights of women. Some Israelis think Qatsav got caught in the time warp and didn’t shift with the rest of society.
Just before going to prison, Qatsav said, “I’ve hugged and kissed women, but not in an in- appropriate way. We’ve become like Saudi Arabia. A hug is a sex offense.”
Many Israelis have taken umbrage at this kind of talk. Sima Kadmon wrote in the daily Yediot Aharonot that Qatsav was delusional.
She wrote, “He has already proved that he lives in a world of his own, in which truth and lies are intermingled, in which women manipulative temptresses are, journalists are biased and malicious, and judges are liars.” Qatsav provided evidence for her view as he talked with reporters before entering prison. He argued that every part of Israeli society had been out to destroy him. The media, he said, loved the sensationalism. Police officers despised him for his criticism of some of their actions. Fellow politicians were jealous of his popularity.
Qatsav was born in Yazd and moved to Israel with his family in 1951 when he was 5 1/2 years old.
