Israel's former President Moshe Katsav has been jailed for seven years for rape and other sex offenses

He had been convicted of raping an employee in the 1990s when he was tourism minister, and of later sexual offenses while he was president. The rape victim, known as Woman A, told the court he had first attacked her at the tourism ministry office, and later at a hotel in Jerusalem. Katsav resigned from the largely ceremonial post of president in 2007. He had initially agreed with prosecutors to plead guilty to sexual misconduct, avoiding more serious charges. But he later withdrew the agreement and denied the rape allegations. Sentencing 65-year-old Katsav - the first former Israeli head of state to be jailed - the judges told him no-one was above the law. According to court documents, he committed the rape in April 1998, and sexually harassed two women in 2003 and 2005 during his presidency. Judge George Karra told him: "We believe the plaintiff [Woman A] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence and she told the truth." The judges said Katsav's evidence had been riddled with lies. Women's groups in Israel welcomed the conviction, arguing that allegations of sexual harassment were too often ignored.