Former president Moshe Katsav, who left office after agreeing to plead guilty to forcible indecent assault and sexual harassment as part of a plea bargain that dropped two charges of rape included in the draft indictment, decided not attend the swearing-in ceremony for his successor, Shimon Peres, at the Knesset Sunday.

Instead, Katsav spent the time consulting with his lawyers ahead of Monday's High Court of Justice hearing on several petitions against the plea deal, said his media adviser, Ronen Tzur.

Tzur said an additional reason for Katsav's failure to appear at the event was that he is preparing to reveal "an additional story that the public is not aware of, which is related to the affair."

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Meanwhile, sources close to Katsav said Sunday that the hundreds of phone calls Katsav is accused of making to A., a complainant who used to work at the President's Residence, were from Katsav's driver, whom she was dating at the time.

A.'s lawyers told the High Court of Justice last week that a police investigation found phone records indicating that Katsav had called A. nearly 700 times, from his office, home and car.