Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav, center, leaves a court in Tel Aviv, Israel, after he was convicted of raping an employee when he was a Cabinet minister. Katsav will learn Tuesday whether he will go to jail on a rape conviction in a case that has already made history in Israel. –AP Photo/Oded Balilty

JERUSALEM: A Tel Aviv court is set to sentence a former Israeli president convicted of rape. Moshe Katsav faces up to 16 years in prison when his sentence is handed down Tuesday. He says he is innocent.

Katsav was convicted in December of two counts of raping an employee when he was tourism minister in 1998.

The court also convicted him of sexually harassing two other women who worked for him when he was president, from 2000 to 2007.

Intense public pressure forced him to resign two weeks before his term ended. The case has made history in Israel because Katsav is the highest-ranking official ever convicted of a crime.

Israel’s presidency is largely a ceremonial position, traditionally given as a reward for a lifetime of public service.