Justice for all?

The pleas bargain made by Atty. Gen. Menachem Mazuz with the lawyers of former Pres. Katsav has caused a furore in Israel. Katsav was charged with numerous counts of sexual harrassment of former aides from the time when he was Minister of Tourism as well as in the Presidency. This included two cases of rape. Katsav admitted nothing and angrily rejected all charges as a conspiracy against him. Most Israelis expected these charges to be considered in a court of law, although few people looked forward to the public degradation of a former President.
Perhaps to avoid this spectacle, Mazuz has announced a plea bargain so that Katsav can plead guilty to some of the sexual harrassment charges in exchange for the more serious rape charges being dropped. Apparently Katsav's lawyer had a hard time persuading him to accept this deal/compromise, in order to avoid the trial. But, there has been such a strong public reaction against the deal, particularly from women's groups and female politicians, so that the deal may not be viable. There have been calls for Mazuz to resign.
The main criticism is that women will be more reluctant to come forward in future if harrassed by a public figure, if they expect that the person will be protected from prosecution and will be given a special deal negating most of the serious charges. The victims in Katsav's case, whose identities have not been revealed, have gone public with their accusations that this is a deal concocted by politicians to protect themselves.
It is a difficult situation to judge, on the one hand most people will agree that to avoid a public trial of a former President is a good move, but on the other hand to drop serious rape charges against a former President smacks of unequal treatment before the law. How far is the State supposed to go to ensure equal justice for all? This case has serious ramifications that will take some time to be worked out.