There was a certain lack of sensitivity in the way that the family and friends of former president and convicted rapist Moshe Katsav celebrated his release from prison on Dec. 21. When he returned to his hometown of Kiryat Malachi, he was received with bouquets of flowers. Candy was thrown at him and there was singing and dancing. It was a display of joy completely out of sync with the enormous shift in Israeli attitudes toward sexual assault that has taken place over the last two years. Katsav's supporters seemed to ignor the fact that though his prison term was shortened from seven to five years, his release has several humiliating conditions. For instance, he is forbidden from taking any job that involves hierarchical relations with women.

Katsav was released back into a country very different from the one he left when he passed through the gates of Maasiyahu Prison in Ramle five years ago. Nowadays, such a celebration in honor of a rapist could easily turn into a public protest against him. It might even impact the conditions of his early release.

Under the current circumstances and public mood, it would be deemed unreasonable for it to take 10 months from the day that Katsav was first interrogated over accusations that he sexually harassed a young woman who worked with him until he signed a plea deal with the state attorney’s office and resigned from the presidency.

Throughout that time, Katzav refused to resign, even though the charges piling up against him soon included rape. Instead he waged a brutal public campaign against the women who brought charges against him, disgracing the institution of the presidency in Israel and around the world. At one point, Katsav withdrew from a plea deal, though he was eventually convicted of two counts of rape.