jerusalem | Israeli President Moshe Katsav misjudged the depth of the controversy he caused after his refusal to address Eric Yoffie, president of the World Union for Reform Judaism, by his rabbinical title.

The dispute erupted this month when the World Zionist Congress met in Jerusalem and Reform Rabbi Eric Yoffie refused to visit the president's residence with the rest of the Zionist delegates because Katsav had insulted him.

"We expect Israeli leaders to treat all legitimate streams of Judaism with respect," said Yoffie. "I'm sure it was not intentional, but the president's stand is very hurtful and distressing for Reform and Conservative Jews in the diaspora and in Israel."

Throughout the almost six years of his presidency, Katsav told the Jerusalem Post, he has consistently welcomed leaders of the Reform movement to his Beit Hanassi, his official residence, and the issue of the title was never raised.

If it was something that they wanted to discuss, he stated, they could have gone through the proper channels without making it a focal point of media attention.

It was not the president, he said, who decided on matters of ordination and titles in Israel. If the Reform movement was so insistent on the titles issue, he suggested, it should take its case to the Knesset, whose decisions are binding on the institutions of the state.

When the Post reporter reminded the president that Yoffie was recognized and addressed as "rabbi" by 1.5 million Reform Jews as well as members of the Conservative movement and even by a large number of Orthodox Jews, Katsav said he had no problem in addressing Yoffie and his colleagues as "Reform rabbi" if that's what they wanted, but he was not sure that they would be happy with that either.

Katsav made the point that even though he may have skirted the title in conversation, all correspondence to Reform rabbis from Beit Hanassi and protocols of all meetings in which they participated contained their titles.

Katsav was particularly annoyed by repeated media reference to a reception that he was allegedly hosting that Yoffie was reported to be snubbing.

He was not hosting any reception to which Yoffie had been invited, he said.

A senior source from the World Union of Progressive Judaism confirmed to the Post that indeed there had been no invitation for Yoffie to snub.

Such fallacious reporting, said Katsav, did irreparable harm to both the institution of the presidency and to the Reform movement.

In response, the president's spokesman issued a statement to the effect that the president recognizes and respects the Reform movement and its spiritual leaders along with all other streams of Judaism.

"Katsav opened Beit Hanassi to the Reform movement in a way that none of his predecessors had done, in full recognition of the importance of the movement and its significance within the Jewish people, as well as its support for Israel," said the statement.

The Reform movement, it continued, "is welcome to participate in all discussions on the future of the Jewish people that are initiated by the president. Furthermore, all Beit Hanassi protocols and other written documents related to Conservative and Reform rabbis list the rabbis in accordance with their titles."

Katsav's spokesman cited the state's unwillingness to recognize non-Orthodox rabbis as an explanation for Katsav's decision to do the same. "The president is not in charge of titles or ordination. This is an issue vested in the authorities of the state of Israel, whose rulings obligate the whole of the administration including the institution of the presidency."

On Sunday, Yoffie was rumored to have orchestrated a boycott over Katsav's refusal to refer to Reform rabbis as "rabbis."

Katsav regards Yoffie's reported stance not only as a personal insult but also an affront to the presidency.

"It's an outrage for a foreigner to boycott the president of Israel," he said. "He would never dare do that to other world leaders."

Yoffie on Monday rejected reports that he was boycotting Katsav, explaining that he didn't request a meeting with the president on his current trip to Israel because he thought it would be "tense."

Katsav reiterated his recognition of and respect for Reform Judaism and its leadership and said he had received a lot of flak from the Orthodox establishment for agreeing to address Reform communities in the US.

Although Katsav is Orthodox, he makes a distinction between his personal views and his public office. "I am the president of all the citizens of Israel," he said, and in that capacity, he recognizes and respects all streams of Judaism, even if on a personal level he does not agree with what they stand for, he added.

The president said that members of his staff had reminded him that when speaking to Reform rabbis in English, he had indeed used their titles, and all correspondence with Reform and Conservative rabbis carried their titles. He produced copies of a sheaf of letters to prove his point.

He could not use the titles in Hebrew, he said, because this would contravene the ruling of the Knesset and the Chief Rabbinate, and he did not want to place the presidency in the center of a controversy between the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and the Reform Movement in the US, he said.

If the Reform Movement wanted to influence a change of attitude, it would do well to move its 1.5 million members in the US to Israel, he said, declaring that he would not be dictated to from abroad as to how to address a Reform rabbi.

"Only Israeli citizens can decide on any path that Israel will take," he said.