Most Israelis do not believe Moshe Katsav’s protestations of innocence in the sex scandal surrounding the former president, a poll found. Thursday’s survey in Maariv, conducted after Katsav went on national television to reassert that rape and molestation charges lodged against him by former employees were malicious and false, found that 16 percent of Israelis believe him while 60 percent believe the complainants. The remaining respondents voiced no opinion on the matter. The findings suggested that Israeli public opinion is firmly against a plea bargain in which Katsav confessed to the relatively mild charges, including sexual harassment, and was spared felony prosecution and possible jail time. The poll had 501 respondents and a 4.4 percent margin of error. Yediot Achronot published extracts from police testimony given by Katsav’s wife, Gila, after the affair erupted last year. She was quoted as saying that she believed her husband was “100 percent innocent.”
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