37 Facts About Moshe Katsav

Moshe Katsav is an Israeli former politician and was the eighth President of Israel from 2000 to 2007.

Moshe Katsav was a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset and a minister in its cabinet.

Moshe Katsav was the first Mizrahi Jew to be elected to the presidency, and second non-Ashkenazi president after Yitzhak Navon.

Moshe Katsav is the only ex-Israeli President to have been convicted of a crime.

Moshe Katsav later rejected the deal with prosecutors and vowed he would prove his innocence in court.

On 22 March 2011, in a landmark ruling, Moshe Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Moshe Katsav appealed his conviction to the Supreme Court of Israel.

On 7 December 2011, Moshe Katsav arrived at Maasiyahu Prison in Ramla to begin serving his seven-year sentence.

Moshe Katsav was released under restrictive conditions on 21 December 2016, having served five years of his sentence.

Moshe Katsav was born Musa Qassab in Yazd, Iran, to Persian Jewish parents, Shmuel and Gohar Qassab.

Moshe Katsav's family moved to Tehran when he was a baby, and they emigrated to Israel in 1951.

Moshe Katsav then studied at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in economics and history in 1971.

Moshe Katsav joined the Likud Party and was elected mayor of his hometown of Kiryat Malakhi in 1969.

Moshe Katsav was deputy Minister of Construction and Housing from 1981 to 1983 and Minister of Labor and Welfare from 1984 to 1988.

Moshe Katsav was Transportation Minister from 1988 to 1992 and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism from 1996 to 1999.

Moshe Katsav was an unsuccessful candidate in the 1993 Likud leadership election.

The public positions filled by Moshe Katsav include the following: Chairman of the Iranian Immigrants Organization; Chairman of the commission to determine higher education tuition; and Member of Ben-Gurion University Board of Trustees.

Moshe Katsav was the first President of Israel to have been sworn in for a seven-year term and the first Likud member to win the office.

Moshe Katsav's victory was attributed in part to evidence that Peres planned to use the position to support the increasingly unpopular peace processes of the government of Ehud Barak.

On 8 April 2005, the alphabetic ordering of leaders during the funeral of Pope John Paul II resulted in Moshe Katsav sitting near Iranian President Mohammad Khatami who, like Moshe Katsav, was born in the Iranian province of Yazd.

Moshe Katsav told the press that he shook Khatami's hand and spoke to him in Persian.

In July 2006, Moshe Katsav complained to the Attorney General of Israel, Menachem Mazuz, that a female employee was blackmailing him.

Moshe Katsav did not attend the ceremony, swearing-in Dorit Beinisch as President of the Israeli Supreme Court.

On 24 January 2007, Moshe Katsav held a press conference where he accused journalists of persecuting and judging him before all the evidence was in.

Moshe Katsav claimed that the media were hostile to his presidency from the start.

Moshe Katsav declared his intention to suspend himself temporarily but refused to step down unless indicted.

Moshe Katsav would pay compensation to two of the victims.

Moshe Katsav's attorneys said they agreed to avoid an arduous trial.

Moshe Katsav's trial took place between August 2009 and June 2010 before a panel of three judges, consisting of Presiding Judge George Karra and Justices Miriam Sokolov and Yehudit Shevach.

In July 2011, it was cleared for publication that Moshe Katsav was under police investigation on suspicion of using private investigators to harass witnesses and a complainant.

Moshe Katsav suggested that the plaintiffs' testimonies were filled with contradictions.

Prison authorities determined that Moshe Katsav did not pose a suicide risk, and it was decided that the cameras in his cell would only be activated when his cellmate was absent.

Moshe Katsav's cell was in the prison's Torani cellblock, a special block for religious prisoners.

On 21 December 2016, Moshe Katsav was released from prison after the State Attorney decided not to appeal the Parole Board's decision for early release.

Moshe Katsav served a total of 5 years and 15 days of his 7-year sentence.

Moshe Katsav was required to attend rehabilitation and visit a psychologist once a week, attend daily Torah study sessions, and remain at his home under a curfew from 10 PM to 6 AM.

Moshe Katsav was forbidden from discussing or defaming his victims or holding any position where women are his subordinates.