JERUSALEM, Oct 17: Israeli prosecutors have begun to draft an indictment against President Moshe Katsav on charges including rape, army radio said on Tuesday, amid speculation over a successor should the embattled leader resign.

The draft indictment will be presented within two weeks to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who will then decide whether to formally charge Mr Katsav.

Israeli police announced on Sunday that evidence gathered during a weeks-long investigation was enough to charge the 60-year-old head of state with rape, sexual harassment and wire-tapping.

Mr Katsav has vigorously denied the allegations — the most serious ever levelled against an Israeli leader — and has so far refused to step down from his largely ceremonial post.

The president thinks that an indictment will not be filed — previous police recommendations against top officials have not always been followed by formal charges — but will resign should he be indicted, his attorney said. “If the attorney general decides to present a formal indictment, the president will immediately resign, he will not remain president for a second longer,” Zion Amir, one of Katsav’s lawyers, told army radio.

Mr Katsav, a bland career politician who rose from obscurity to become head of state in 2000, is immune from prosecution while president but could be charged if impeached by the Knesset.

On Monday, he opted out of presiding over the opening of parliament’s winter session after lawmakers threatened a boycott, but reiterated denials of the charges against him and vowed to clear his name.

“The president was surprised and shocked by the police recommendations,” a statement from his office said. “He repeats that he is a victim of a plot and that sooner or later the allegations against him will be proven false.”

SUCCESSOR: Speculation was rife about who would succeed the Iranian-born Katsav, Israel’s first president from a right-wing party, should he resign.