Defense attorneys for President Moshe Katsav demanded on Thursday from the Knesset House Committee to change the conditions in the recent decision to extend his incapacity.

According to the attorneys, Zion Amir, Avigdor Feldman and Abraham Lavi, the committee had no authority in deciding that Katsav's suspension would be extended to the end of his tenure, instead of "until further notice," the wording requested by Katsav and his defense.

The attorneys say that the committee can only approve or reject the president's request, and not to alter the conditions of his incapacity.

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According to Amir, "the committee has further humiliated the president with this maneuver. I do not know if this is due to politicians' manipulations, but the decision made is somewhere between incapacity and resignation since the president's tenure will be coming to an end during this period anyway."

"I suppose they were unaware of this when the decision was made, but we still think changes are needed, mostly due to historical reasons," he continued. "This is why we have asked that the decision be corrected."

Associates of Katsav say he is behind this demand, although it has no practical significance since he can, by law, end his incapacity at any time.

According to his associates, Katsav is a meticulous person, and did not want there to be the impression that he cannot return to office after his hearing next week. Nonetheless, it appears that it will be difficult for Katsav to forcefully alter this decision, because he will have a hard time explaining the move to the public.