Ex-President Moshe Katsav Goes Free After 5 Years In Jail For Rape

Former Israeli President and convicted rapist Moshe Katsav was released from Ma’asiyahu Prison on Wednesday after the State Prosecution said it would not appeal Sunday’s parole board decision to free him. He had served five years of a seven-year jail sentence.

A smiling Katsav, flanked by his wife Gila and other supporters, appeared at the gate of the central Israel prison at around 4 p.m. Jostled by the crowd of waiting reporters, the disgraced Likud politician got into a car and drove away without speaking.

He later received a hero’s welcome in his home town of Kiryat Malachi, where cheering crowds rushed to embrace him — even knocking the blue and white large knitted kippa off his head in the excitement.