An Israeli parliamentary committee on Thursday approved President Moshe Katsav’s request to suspend himself for three months as prosecutors prepare a case against him that could include charges of rape and other sexual misconduct.

The committee acted a day after Mr. Katsav made the request in a defiant speech on Israeli television in which he accused the news media of conducting a “witch hunt” against him. He again insisted that he had done nothing wrong, and he said that he would contest any charges against him.

The House Committee in Parliament, or Knesset, voted 13 to 11 to declare Mr. Katsav “temporarily incapacitated” while prosecutors proceed with their investigation.

Many politicians, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, have said that Mr. Katsav should step down. The vote was close because some wanted him to resign immediately, rather than just suspend himself.

The Justice Ministry said this week that Attorney General Menachem Mazuz planned to indict Mr. Katsav on charges of rape and other sexual misconduct related to four women who worked for him when he was tourism minister in the late 1990s or after he became president in 2000. The president said he would resign if formally charged.

However, Mr. Katsav’s decision to suspend himself means his political and legal status could remain unresolved for several months. His seven-year term as president, a mostly symbolic position, ends in July.

Israeli law prohibits putting a sitting president on trial, but permits prosecution if a president resigns, is impeached or finishes the term.

Some legislators want to begin impeachment proceedings, and Ruhama Avraham, the chairwoman of the House Committee, said such a motion could be introduced next week.

“For many lawmakers it is not suitable and not correct that the president should be able to continue in his role for a single day longer,” Ms. Avraham said.

However, 90 of the 120 legislators would have to support an impeachment motion to remove Mr. Katsav, and that does not appear likely now.

In Mr. Katsav’s absence, the speaker of Parliament, Dalia Itzik, becomes the acting president, and an informal race to replace him is already under way.

Shimon Peres, 83, who lost to Mr. Katsav, 61, when legislators selected the president in 2000, is considered one of several contenders.

In violence on Thursday, Israeli troops fatally shot Fadel Balawneh, a 17-year-old Palestinian militant, near Tulkarm in the West Bank, the Israeli military and Palestinian security officials said.

He was shot as he ran from a building that Israeli troops were surrounding, the military and Palestinian witnesses said. The Israeli military said he was suspected of involvement in bombings and shootings.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company