Israel's president, Moshe Katsav,
at a press conference in Jerusalem
Photograph: Uriel Sinai/GettyThe face of President Moshe Katsav is plastered all over the front pages of the Israeli press today - and none of the coverage is favourable, writes Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem.
This is a row that has been brewing for six months or more, but it finally became very serious on Tuesday, when the office of the attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, said its investigations had found enough evidence to charge the president with a string of extremely serious crimes including rape, harassment, sexual relations involving the abuse of power, obstruction of justice and illegally accepting gifts.
Last night, in a highly charged news conference, the president rejected the allegations out of hand and refused to resign.
It was an extraordinary performance, in which he rounded on the Israeli media for their coverage of the case and at one point had a shouting match with a television journalist from Channel 2.
He also blamed the allegations on racism: Mr Katsav was born in Iran, and he suggested the case had been brought by an "elite clique born with silver spoons in their mouths", who were biased against Jews from the Middle East.
But the press this morning was not happy with his performance. "Katsav blames everyone," said the Yedioth Ahronoth. "Everyone is to blame but him," said Ma'ariv.
Here is an account of the latest from Yedioth's website, Y-net, which, by the way, I've noticed most Israeli politicians always seem to have up on their computer screens whenever you catch them in their offices.
Israeli MPs today voted to allow Mr Katsav to temporarily step down from his post while he faces the allegations. Meanwhile, a Yedioth poll showed 71% of Israelis want him to quit.
But there are some other interesting pieces around the edge of the story. Aluf Benn, writing in Ha'aretz, says it is time to get rid of the "superfluous" institution of the presidency itself.
And the paper has another intriguing piece noting that all mentions of sexual offences were omitted from the coverage in the ultra-religious press, which wants to remain "clean". The growing influence of the ultra-Orthodox in Israel is a whole other story that's starting to get a lot of coverage.
Mr Katsav's news conference came just an hour or two before the prime minister, Ehud Olmert (himself facing a criminal investigation over alleged irregularities stemming from the sale of a bank), made a keynote policy speech in Herzliya. It was the same venue that his predecessor, Ariel Sharon, used to announce the withdrawal of settlers from Gaza. But Olmert's speech (the official English translation is here) didn't get nearly as much coverage this morning as he must have hoped for.
He talked almost exclusively about Iran, which Israel now sees as a prime threat. Many Israelis regard last summer's war with Hizbullah as the first round in a broader conflict with Tehran, and a lot of people worry that another round of fighting will follow.
Israel wants tough diplomacy and sanctions against Iran, but clearly Mr Olmert has not ruled out military action. "We have the right to full freedom of action to act in defence of our vital interests. We will not hesitate to use it," he said.
