Israel’s president has agreed to a controversial plea bargain that will allow him to avoid a possible prison sentence on rape charges.

But Moshe Katsav, who has long denied any accusation of wrongdoing, will plead guilty to charges of sexual harassment and abuse of authority, Menachem Mazuz, the attorney general, said.

Mr Katsav, a 61-year-old father of five who was elected to the largely ceremonial position in 2000, had insisted that he was the victim of a conspiracy to disgrace him. His spokesman said that he had agreed to the deal to spare his family further suffering.

The plea deal was denounced by women’s groups and several newspapers. Yediot Aharanot, a popular daily, commented that “from a serial sex offender, Katsav turned into a dirty old man, pinching, caressing and kissing”.

Prosecutors had said earlier this year they would press charges that Mr Katsav had twice raped a female employee when he held the post of tourism minister, as well as several other lesser sexual offences.

Mr Mazuz said there was “lack of sufficient evidence” for the rape allegations but stressed the outstanding accusations - which include harassing a witness - were a “serious criminal charge”.

“Under the bargain, President Katsav admitted responsibility for a long series of sex offences, including harassment and indecent acts,” Mr Mazuz said.

Many Israelis have grown weary of a body politic mired in scandals. Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, has been dogged by allegations of corruption, while Mr Katsav’s predecessor as president, Ezer Weizman, was forced to resign after it was emerged that he had received hundreds of thousands of dollars from a French millionaire while an MP.

One of the plaintiffs claiming that Mr Katsav had raped her promptly lodged an appeal at the high court, against what her lawyer denounced as an “amoral” deal. “This plea bargain sends a regrettable message to rapists,” said her lawyer.

Aliza Amar, a women’s rights activist who has led a campaign against Mr Katsav since the allegations emerged last year, was shocked that he was to only receive a suspended sentence for less serious charges.

“I feel as if someone stabbed me straight in the heart while saying, ’That’s what you deserve’. It’s not what we deserve. I cry today not only over my pain, but also the pain of those who are being raped today and will never speak about it, because a plea bargain can be made behind their back,” said Ms Amar, herself a rape victim.

Shelly Yacimovich, a Labour MP, said the apparent immunity of high-ranking figures to prosecution would erode trust in the general public in “the ability of a plain citizen to seek justice against a powerful and well connected person”.

Mr Katsav will be the first Israeli president to go to court on charges of sex crimes - the most serious ever levelled at such a senior level - and has already agreed to pay $11,000 in damages to his alleged victims.

He stepped aside from his presidential duties in January to fight the charges, claiming he was the victim of a witch hunt. His spokesman said that he had only accepted the deal with the attorney general “after the smear campaign of the past year, and in order to spare his family the pain".

Mr Katsav was due to resign formally tonight and be replaced by Shimon Peres, the 83-year-Nobel peace laureate whom he defeated in elections in 2000. Mr Peres, the elder statesman of Israeli politics, was elected unopposed in fresh polls two weeks ago.

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