Disgraced Israeli President Moshe Katsav on Friday submitted his resignation, one day after he signed a controversial plea bargain that will see him convicted of sexual offences, an adviser said.
Katsav, who temporarily suspended himself from duty in January in the wake of the investigation, sent the letter of resignation to parliamentary Speaker Dalia Itzik, a senior aide to Katsav said.
”Katsav sent a letter to the Knesset speaker where he requests to quit the presidency in the wake of the plea bargain,” the aide said.
The 61-year-old Iranian-born president on Thursday signed a plea bargain under which he admitted to a series of sex offences, including harassment and indecent acts, but which dropped two rape charges, sparking a wave of protest.
The bargain will nonetheless see the scandal-ridden Katsav become Israel’s first head of state convicted of sex offences.
His resignation will take effect within 48 hours, after which Itzik will be named interim president and the state prosecution will indict Katsav.
He will end his full seven-year term about two weeks before Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shimon Peres takes office as his successor, having been elected Israel’s ninth president earlier this month.
Katsav agreed to a suspended prison sentence and a fine of $11 000 in damages but dodged a possible jail term if convicted of rape. The deal has been slammed as an injustice by the prosecution, women’s activists and the local media. — Sapa-AFP