Katsav Facing Inquiry

Israeli President Moshe Katsav will face questioning in a sexual harassment investigation, police said Tuesday after seizing computers and documents at his official residence.

At least two former female employees have accused Katsav of harassing them, police said. One of the women reportedly also alleged that Katsav received money for granting pardons.

Police plan to question Katsav at his residence today, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said.

The president’s office said Katsav would cooperate with the investigation.

“The president is interested in giving his full version and to prove the lies of the serious accusations,” a statement from the office said. Katsav has said all his dealings with female employees have been professional, and he has rejected the graft accusation as absurd.

Israeli presidents serve a single seven-year term. They have immunity from trial on charges related to their tenure but are not immune from investigation, the Justice Ministry has said. The post is largely ceremonial.

A police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to the media, said investigators seized Katsav’s personal computer. Investigators will review Katsav’s e-mails as well as the pardons, the official said.

Katsav is the latest in a line of leaders tainted by scandal in recent weeks. Army Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz has come under fire for selling his stock portfolio in the hours after the war with Hezbollah began, and Israel’s state comptroller is looking into a property deal involving Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon resigned this week to face accusations of improperly kissing an 18-year-old female soldier; he has denied the allegations.