Moshe Katsav

Moshe Katsav (Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה קַצָּב; born Musa Qassab; Persian: موسى قصاب; 5 December 1945) is an Israeli former politician who was the president of Israel from 2000 to 2007. He was also a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset and a minister in its cabinet. He was the first Mizrahi Jew to be elected to the presidency, and second non-Ashkenazi president after Yitzhak Navon. He is also the only ex-Israeli president to have been convicted of a crime. The end of his presidency was marked by controversy, stemming from allegations of rape of one female subordinate and sexual harassment of others. Katsav resigned from the presidency in 2007 as part of a plea bargain. Katsav later rejected the deal with prosecutors and vowed he would prove his innocence in court. In an unprecedented case, on 30 December 2010, Katsav was convicted of two counts of rape, obstruction of justice, and other charges. On 22 March 2011, in a landmark ruling, Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison. Katsav appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Israel. On 10 November 2011, the Supreme Court affirmed Katsav's conviction and punishment. On 7 December 2011, Katsav arrived at Maasiyahu Prison in Ramla to begin serving his seven-year sentence. He was released under restrictive conditions on 21 December 2016, having served five years of his sentence.