Revoking a person's freedom and locking him up behind bars is a heavy, brutal punishment. Since even criminals are human beings, they should be treated with all due consideration -- even such dangerous criminals as rapists, if they meet the requirements that allow such consideration. However, we should remember that early parole is neither a right nor a given -- it's a reward. The norm is to serve out a sentence in full. The sentence is specifically designed to fit the crime, so there is no basis for the disingenuous cries by former President Moshe Katsav's cronies and publicists, who claim that "he is being punished for not confessing. Is a person obligated to confess to a crime he did not commit-" Katsav isn't being punished for not confessing. He's being punished for the crimes he was convicted of committing, for which he received the maximum prison time. The decision by the parole board means that Katsav was not found to be deserving of having his sentence commuted, since he did not meet the criteria. The most basic condition for commuting the sentences of sex offenders is that they undergo rehabilitation. Katsav the sex offender has refused to do so, since he has not yet acknowledged the meaning of his actions. And since he has not acknowledged the meaning of his actions, we can conclude that he has not realized that his conduct was anything but normal. This means that he still presents a danger. A person's sentence cannot be extended because he is dangerous, but it is certainly a key consideration in any decision about early parole. Katsav the rapist continues to wear the mantle of the pathetic victim. He isn't grappling with the question of what he did, but rather what was done to him. He doesn't understand that the real story is what he did to his victims, not what "happened to him." Unfortunately, his inner circle, rather than explaining things to him, is cooperating with his sense of victimhood. His associates and spokespeople continue to present his victims as persecutors, thereby justifying the ugly shaming campaigns being waged against them. As long as Katsav remains in this state of mind, it is not impossible that when he is released from prison, he will persist in slandering his victims. Katsav the rapist doesn't deserve early parole, since equality before the law demands that he be treated like any other rapist. And just like other rapists who refuse to undergo rehabilitation are denied early parole, so will Katsav. In my opinion, public officials who commit crimes should be more severely punished than ordinary criminals, especially when it's Israel's leading citizen, a man who enjoyed such great power and abused it to hurt women who worked for him. He certainly doesn't deserve celebrity treatment. If Katsav undergoes treatment, and depending on the results, he might earn an early parole.
