Israeli president urged to quit over sex scandal

JERUSALEM, Oct 16 (Reuters) Israeli President Moshe Katsav, under pressure to resign after police recommended he be charge with rape, stayed away from a parliamentary ceremony today after legislators threatened to snub him.

The sex scandal has cast a shadow on the presidency, a public office Israelis cherish as being above their usual rough-and-tumble politics.

Katsav, whose position is largely ceremonial and widely seen as a unifying force in a country of deep political divides, has denied any wrongdoing and said he is the victim of a ''public lynching without trial''.

After weeks of investigation, police and the Justice Ministry said they had gathered evidence that Katsav, a veteran politician, ''carried out sex crimes of rape, sexual molestation by force and without consent'' against women who worked for him.

It will be up to Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz to weigh whether to indict Katsav, 60, and a police source said a decision was likely in about two weeks.

Since Israel's founding in 1948, rumours have swirled about prominent politicians' alleged sexual affairs. One cabinet minister -- denying any wrongdoing -- is currently on trial on allegations he kissed a woman soldier against her will.

But no Israeli politician has ever been charged with a major sex crime, and Katsav could face to up to 16 years in prison if he is tried and found guilty of rape.

Commentators in Israel's biggest newspapers said it was time for Katsav, who has held a series of cabinet posts as a member of the right-wing Likud party, to step down.

''Moshe Katsav served as president for the past six years and the presidency served him. There is no choice but to say goodbye,'' commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in the Yedioth Ahronoth daily.

''Farewell, President Katsav,'' wrote legal analyst Ze'ev Segal in the Haaretz newspaper, urging him to ''save ... the public's faith in the institution of the presidency'' by announcing his resignation immediately.

Facing a threatened protest by legislators if he attended the opening of parliament's winter session, Katsav decided not to show up to avoid ''being part of these theatrics'', his brother said on Army Radio.

Members of parliament from across the political spectrum had said they would either boycott the ceremony, walk out or refuse to rise when a trumpet fanfare sounded to mark Katsav's arrival in the hall.

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