Had the president's aides wished to spare him some grief over breakfast yesterday, they would have given him a copy of the Orthodox daily Hamodia.

Under the main headline about transferring funds to the Palestinian Authority, the Agudat Yisrael mouthpiece published various stories on housing for Gush Katif evacuees and news from the Jewish world.

The attorney general's decision to indict Moshe Katsav was not mentioned, nor were the charges being drafted against him or the political scramble to find a successor.

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The newspaper's editors were hoping to spare the readers, and did not print the crude nature of the charges against the president.

The Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox daily Yated Ne'eman, however, deviated from its self-imposed censorship on the affair, publishing the following headline at the bottom of the front page: "Katsav expected to proclaim he is temporary incapable of fulfilling his duties."

The report itself, appearing on page 10, explains: "Yesterday the attorney general decided to indict him for a series of criminal offenses, such as using state funds for personal needs and obstructing legal procedures." Not a word about the main charges.

Editors of the ultra-Orthodox newspapers say the censorship is intended to protect their readers, not the president. They know their public is aware of the scandal's sexual nature, but prefer their readers to learn about it elsewhere. It is more important to keep the newspapers "clean," they say.

The religious radio station Kol Hai's news bulletins have been covering the Katsav affair since the attorney general's announcement Tuesday, but broadcasters, reporters and commentators have been ordered not to mention the nature of the charges or say words like "sexual harassment," "rape" and "abuse."

Interviewees are also warned not to use those terms on the air.

The channel did not broadcast the recent news conferences live, but only after offensive phrases had been deleted.

"When a father sits in his car with his children listening to the news, my job is to protect the children and not use terms alien to the children's pure world," said Mordechai Lavi, the radio's main news broadcaster.

The ultra-Orthodox editors say they will set the extent of censorship based on developments, but in any case the embarrassing sexual details will be excluded.