President Moshe Katsav pleaded guilty on Thursday to committing sexual crimes against women employees, signing a plea bargain that will keep him out of jail, Israel's attorney-general said.
Under the deal, Attorney-General Menachem Mazuz retreated from his stated intention to charge Katsav with rape but said the president, whose term expires next month, would resign and that "shame will accompany him forever".
"From Israel's 'First Citizen', he turns into a criminal convicted of sexual offences," Mazuz told a news conference, insisting he had not given a special break to a public figure.
An attorney for one of the victims expressed outrage at the plea bargain and a women's rights' advocate said it would discourage other women from complaining about sexual crimes.
The unprecedented case against an Israeli head of state has stirred powerful emotions in a country where women's groups have long complained that authorities shrug off sexual harassment in workplaces.
As part of the arrangement that Katsav signed, he pleaded guilty to charges he committed a string of indecent sexual acts against one woman who worked for him and sexually harassed another female employee, Mazuz said.
Katsav, who had denied any wrongdoing, also agreed to pay the equivalent of $3,500 in compensation to one of the women and $8,300 to the other, Mazuz said.
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