The State Prosecutor's Office announced Thursday that it would ask the magistrate's court trying former president Moshe Katsav for sex offenses to attach moral turpitude to the crimes for which he will be convicted under the terms of a plea agreement.

The announcement follows a decision made by the Knesset Finance Committee recently stating that a president or former president convicted of moral turpitude would be denied the financial benefits such an official normally receives from the state.

The State Prosecutor's Office argued that at the time that the plea bargain with Katsav was signed, there was no need to deal with the issue of moral turpitude because at that time the issue was purely theoretical, as it had no bearing on Katsav's financial privileges.