A Question of Judgment

PHOTOGRAPH FOR TIME BY ALEXANDRA BOULAT / VII

In the time it takes to utter two words — "suspended sentence" — Israel's Attorney General Menahem Mazuz went from being the country's most respected lawman to a reviled and misunderstood figure. For months, Mazuz, a workaholic of Old Testament rigor, had gathered testimony alleging that Israel's President Moshe Katsav was a serial sex offender. Now Mazuz is under fire for seeking a plea bargain for Israel's ceremonial head of state instead of attempting to prosecute him for allegedly committing rape. On June 30, 20,000 people gathered in a Tel Aviv square to demand the resignation of Mazuz, with the special...

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