Retired Supreme Court President Aharon Barak said Monday that when he embraced President Moshe Katsav last year during the swearing-in ceremony of the court's deputy president, he did so out of pity for Katsav.

"When I hugged President Moshe Katsav, I did so because I pitied him, and I was afraid he was going to put a bullet in his head," Barak said in an interview with the journal of the Israel Bar Association, to be published early next week.

"I love people and appreciate people and want to be a friend of people. When I hugged Katsav, I didn't do it because I needed him. When a friend of mine is in trouble, I'll call him.'

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"Politicians are not my milieu. I've stayed away from them all of my life. I spoke to them only when I had to talk. Also when I was the attorney general, and they invited me to their weddings, to their celebrations, their brit milahs, I never used to go," he added.

President's lawyers slam Knesset hearing on impeachment
The attorneys of President Moshe Katsav, who faces charges for rape and sexual assault, announced Tuesday they will not attend a Knesset hearing on the President's impeachment.

In a letter sent to chairman of the Knesset House Committee MK Ruchama Avraham, attorneys Zion Amir and Avigdor Feldman slammed the Knesset's decision to discuss Katsav's impeachment ahead of the hearing procedure at the Attorney General's office.

Mazuz will announce his final decision on whether to indict Katsav only after the hearing procedure at his office has been completed.

Katsav's attorneys described the Knesset hearing as "an outrageous and grave kangaroo court procedure that may infringe on the President's essential rights as president and as citizen."

They also argued that "at this point the MKs do not have any evidence material available to them" other than the AG's announcement that he is considering to indict Katsav.

Amir and Feldman argue that holding a hearing under such circumstances "may be perceived as light-headed, populist, and does not befit the Knesset," and that "some may interpret these moves as failure to hold sway against public opinion and instant political profiteering, even at the price of hurried and unreasonable constitutional moves."

The president's attorneys said also that their client is still trying to persuade the AG that investigation material against him does not warrant indicting him, and that it is "unthinkable" to have the president "plead his case, including presenting evidence, testimonies, depositions and legal arguments before the Knesset, a body that is not entrusted with the judiciary," before he has done so before Mazuz.

The hearing on Katsav's impeachment will be held at the request of 40 MKs from all factions other than the religious parties. Mazuz will not attend the hearing after he made it clear he cannot provide the committee with any further details on the case before holding the hearing for Katsav at his office.

It is believed that Katsav's hearing at the committee will span three to four meetings, at the conclusion of which a vote will be held. The impeachment would be brought to a vote by the Knesset plenum only if 75 percent (19 out of 25) of committee members back the impeachment.

The president will be impeached if at least 90 MKs back the move at the Knesset plenum vote.