Now that the attorney general has decided to indict the president on rape charges, Moshe Katsav's method of quitting the presidency is no longer important. One could have expected the president to announce his resignation immediately, even if he feels persecuted and pure as the driven snow. But on the other hand, if the president has indeed committed the acts attributed to him, there is no reason to expect him to begin acting honorably now. As long as the president and his associates are deliberating over what is more convenient for Katsav and which position would help him wage his legal battle better, it's up to the Knesset to take state considerations into account.

The investigation of the president displays the power of democracy and the rule of law, which are not relaxed even for the president. But when the president is entrenching himself in the President's Residence even when a draft indictment like this one is on the table, it's clear the Knesset must pass a law to make sure that the decision to stay in office does not depend on a future president in a similar situation.

In 2000, at the initiative of MK Michael Eitan, the "temporary incapacity" clause was added to the Basic Law on the President in the wake of the Ezer Weizman scandal. But even the Knesset didn't take into account crimes like rape, and one can assume that it also didn't take into account a president hanging on to his immunity despite a draft indictment. Perhaps the change in the law needs to follow the spirit of MK Avshalom Vilan's idea that the president must resign if he is indicted, and perhaps the president's ousting should be decided by a solid majority, not an unreasonably large majority of 90 MKs.

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The term "temporary incapacity" does not fit Katsav's situation, both because he is not incapable of fulfilling his duties and because the entire public - along with the president himself - knows this is not temporary.

Had the person whom the attorney general decided to indict on rape charges been a run-of-the-mill civilian, that civilian would have been held in custody until the end of proceedings against him, because he would have been seen as a danger to the public. "Temporary incapacity" might have been suitable if the president were under investigation but it still could be argued he was the target of defamatory accusations. But in the meantime, the president's lawyers have gone to the prosecution, attempted to undermine witnesses' testimony, and in effect held a mini-hearing before the draft indictment was even written. Now they want a hearing by the books, which is also a kind of favoritism granted only to the privileged few.

It's enough that Katsav gets a hearing; there's no reason to allow him several months for it, while he remains an incapacitated president.

The president's exemption from indictment is meant to protect the status of the institution, not the president himself. It is now clear that a president who sits in Kiryat Malachi and holds a hearing to save himself is not a president in any sense of the word, but a criminal suspect. Katsav must be allowed to fight for his innocence, and must not be harassed for being president. However, we must make sure he pleads his case as a civilian and not as citizen No. 1 on a forced vacation, which is essentially resignation in stages.

The Knesset does not need to lend a hand to this hypocrisy. If the president has decided not to resign, there is no choice but to oust him.