Two thirds of Israelis believe Katsav should resign: poll

About 66 percent of the Israeli people believed President Moshe Katsav should resign in response to the police's recommendation to indict him for the worst sexual offense of rape, local daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted a poll as saying on Wednesday.

The poll jointly taken by Yedioth Ahronoth and the Dahaf Institute showed that about 66 percent of the 502 samples called for the resign of Katsav, while 24 percent said that there was no need and the rest abstained.

Katsav is facing pressure of resign after the police recommended on Sunday an indictment against Katsav for several sexual offense charges, including rape.

Israeli media also began to speculate who would be the candidate to replace the president.

Israeli daily Jerusalem Post reported that Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau had decided to run for president and would announce his decision as soon as the fate of Katsav had been decided.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also said on Tuesday during his flight to Moscow that he did not rule out the possibility of supporting any candidate, even a nonpolitical figure as the next president.

But he emphasized that he would not say who would replace Katsav as the president had not been indicted, nor had he decided to resign yet.

However, another Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on Tuesday that the Jerusalem District Prosecutor's Office has begun formulating an indictment against Katsav.

The draft indictment and the legal opinion of Jerusalem District Prosecutor Eli Abarbanel would be handed over to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and State Prosecutor Eran Shendar within two weeks, according to Ha'aretz.

In response, Katsav's attorney said on Tuesday that the president would resign if he were charged with a crime.

Source: Xinhua