President Moshe Katsav told the High Court of Justice on Monday he would suspend himself if Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz decides to indict him pending a hearing.
Katsav has been under investigation since the summer for allegations ranging from sexual harassment to rape.
In a letter to Mazuz last week, Katsav’s lawyers David Libai and Zion Amir wrote, “if at the conclusion of the investigation you should decide to indict the president, subject to a hearing, he will announce his suspension due to temporary incapacity. If after the hearing you should make a final decision to indict the president, and let us hope you do not make such a decision, the president will announce his resignation in order to allow the indictment to be filed.”
The lawyers emphasized that one of Israel’s Basic Laws concerning the President “does not allow a trial of the president until the end of his term in July 2007.”
In a letter to Mazuz last week, Katsav told the attorney general to close the case “for lack of sufficient proof for a conviction beyond a reasonable doubt.”