JERUSALEM — Israeli President Moshe Katsav asked parliament today to temporarily remove him from office after Israel's attorney general recommended that he be indicted on rape and other charges.

Under Israeli law, a Knesset committee would have to approve any leave of absence, according to parliamentary spokesman Giora Pordes, who announced Katsav's request.

The president was expected to address the nation later today.

Israel's foreign minister — who also serves as the justice minister — had called on Katsav to resign over impending charges of rape and abuse of power — the most serious accusation against a top Israeli official in the country's history.

The allegation that Katsav used his position as Israel's ceremonial head of state — a job supposed to serve as the nation's moral compass — to force himself on his female employees has left the nation reeling.

"It is a sad day for the state of Israel," said lawmaker Benny Elon.

Attorney General Meni Mazuz's announcement that he intended to indict Katsav on a raft of charges was only the latest corruption scandal roiling the government, with accusations reaching as high as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Katsav, 61, has insisted he is innocent, and his lawyers said Tuesday they hoped to persuade Mazuz to change his mind before he formally indicts Katsav, a step that would make Katsav Israel's first sitting president to be charged with a crime. But many Israelis say the enormity of the scandal has already badly tainted the office of the presidency.

"He should be the symbol of Israel, the uniting person and an ideal model for all the politicians ... so this is a bad sign for Israeli politics," said Gabriel Sheffer, a political science professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

The presidency was once filled by Zionist legends and revered statesman. Albert Einstein declined an invitation to serve as the nation's first president, with the job eventually going to the scientist Chaim Weizmann, a Zionist leader who was instrumental in the creation of the Jewish state.

But the office, whose main responsibilities include receiving foreign diplomats and representing Israel at formal ceremonies, has dropped in esteem in recent years.