MEVASSERET ZION, Israel — The arrest and arraignment in New York of DSK (Dominique Strauss-Kahn) was somewhat ‘déjà vu’ for Israelis. There is something both terrible and fascinating in seeing a prominent, successful and influential personage brought down low in public. The sight of the haggard face and pitiful stance as they stand in the dock almost arouses our sympathy at the same time as we realise that perhaps at long last they may be getting what they deserve. It enables us to indulge in some schadenfreude (there’s no English or French equivalent for that expression, though Hebrew has one). After all, these men have been accused of rape.
The story of the downfall of Israel’s President, Moshe Katzav, which broke a few years ago while he was still in office, resembles that of DSK to some extent, even though the latter has now been exonerated (by discrediting his accuser) while the former has not (despite lawyers’ efforts to do the same). The first point that emerged, however, was that ‘everyone knew.’ Both men, whether convicted rapists or not, are – or at least were – well-known womanisers. While philandering isn’t exactly a crime today, it is advisable for politicians and public figures who value their reputations to be somewhat circumspect about such matters. In French public life, apparently, such things are not viewed with the same gravity as they are in the more puritan USA. But the line tends to be drawn when it comes to rape and the exertion of force. Sending lewd photographs of oneself to young women, as was the case with former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, is also viewed with disapproval, though that would seem to indicate an immature personality more than anything else.
The question that comes to mind is why do certain prominent persons feel the need to use force or expose themselves in public when there are probably not a few members of the opposite sex who are willing to make themselves available? Men who have achieved power and high position are attractive to some women, even if they are no longer as young and handsome as they once were. At least in the case of another leading politician, Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi, there is always the perhaps less honourable but slightly less criminal option of paying for sex. He also has been fighting allegations that he had a liaison with an underage girl.
Clichés such as ‘how are the mighty fallen’ and ‘the higher they go the harder they fall’ come to mind in these cases. Katzav and Kahn appear to have fallen prey to a classic case of hubris, because while neither of them is considered stupid, their actions can undoubtedly be defined as such.
DSK, MK and Weiner are certainly not the only cases illustrating the inability of certain men in high places to keep their trousers on, though they seem to be the most notable in recent years. Unfortunately, another feature that they share is that they are all Jewish, possibly feeding into ancient anti-Semitic prejudices.
MK’s trial, which preoccupied Israel’s courts, media and public opinion for many months, ended with his conviction for rape, though his appeal is still pending. But Israel’s former president has not yet spent a single day in jail, and perhaps never will, though one hopes that the principle of equality before the law will eventually be applied. The case against DSK in the USA, his precipitous imprisonment and eventual exoneration underlines several interesting differences between the two legal systems.
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Shefer-Vanson is a freelance writer based in Mevasseret Zion. She may be contacted at dorothea.shefer@sdjewishworld.com