JERUSALEM, 13 July 2006 — Police began a preliminary investigation yesterday into allegations that Israeli President Moshe Katsav sexually harassed a former employee, an official said. Ordered by Attorney General Menahem Mazuz, the source said the investigation would amount to “preliminary” inquiries into all aspects of the case.

The affair increasingly occupied the local media and could see Katsav risk losing his position as ceremonial head of state. Israeli police chief Moshe Karadi was later expected to appoint the members of the team charged with the investigation, the source said. A woman, who was not named, told Israel’s tabloid-style Maariv newspaper on Tuesday that Katsav harassed her sexually 10 years earlier and that she had to leave her job “for rejecting his advances.”

The paper also said the woman had agreed to undergo a lie-detector test which she had passed successfully. The 61-year-old head of state has dismissed the accusation, saying in a statement that he “had not the slightest idea” who his accuser was.

Yesterday, the liberal daily Haaretz said that six women who had worked with Katsav had also reportedly accused him of sexual harassment. Katsav had earlier told Mazuz that a former employee in the president’s office had threatened to accuse him of sexual harassment unless he found her a job in a ministry.

Up to now, however, Katsav has not made a formal complaint. The prosecutor’s office has asked him for further details. Katsav, a former leader of the Likud party, became president in 2000 and was the first right-winger to hold the post.

Several MPs had begun to question whether Katsav should step down. A request by 20 MPs could see the president summoned before a parliamentary commission where a simple three-quarter majority could lead to a hearing before the full parliament. A vote by 90 of the 120 MPs could see him forced to resign.

Maariv yesterday headlined its editorial on the affair: “Who does he (Katsav) think he is; Clinton!” — an allusion to the scandal which erupted around the former US president.