President Moshe Katsav is considering asking the Knesset for a leave of "temporary incapacity" if the attorney general decides in principle to indict him, a source close to the president told Haaretz on Monday.

The decision on an indictment, which would not be final until after a hearing was held for the president, is expected to be reached in another three to four weeks.

Katsav decided, as reported on Monday in Haaretz, not to resign unless Attorney General Menachem Mazuz made a final decision to indict - between four to six months after the decision in principle.

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On Monday, in response to a petition submitted to the High Court by attorney Yossi Fuchs demanding that the president step aside immediately until a final decision was made on an indictment, Katsav told the court it had no jurisdiction over him.

The president's response was signed by the President's Residence legal counsel, attorney Yonah Sheindorf, and not by Katsav's own attorneys, Professor David Libai and attorney Tsion Amir - although it was formulated together with them.

The statement said the president had agreed to respond to the petition due to Katsav's "great respect for the court."

In his response, Katsav said the Basic Law on the President gave him immunity from all judicial process, including the High Court. "Therefore the president should be erased as a respondent and there is no place for an order requiring him to do anything with regard to his position and his authority, not to mention his very term in office as president."

Katsav's response was in keeping with the position taken by Mazuz, who told the High Court on Sunday that, in his view, it had no authority to adjudicate the matter.

Sheindorf said the court did not even have the authority to require the president to respond to the petition.

The president's close associates warmly supported Mazuz's position on the court's jurisdiction.

But even Mazuz's statements on the need for Katsav to weigh his continued service in office, as interpreted by those close to the president, were balanced, they said.

According to their reading of the statement, Mazuz believes it would be improper for Katsav to remain in office after a decision was made to indict the president and even before the hearing.

Mazuz's decision to indict pending a hearing would then be a call to the president to go to the House Committee and step down temporarily, Katsav's associates said, adding that Mazuz himself had said that a full resignation should come only with a final decision, after a hearing.

A senior official close to Katsav said that theoretically the hearing could change Mazuz's mind.

The official said the president wanted to hold to his petition because he knew he was innocent, and believed that after the material was studied, there would be no possibility he would be indicted.