JERUSALEM — The prime minister of Israel urged the country’s president to resign last night over allegations of rape, sexual harassment, and abuse of power.

The surprise intervention of Prime Minister Olmert came moments after President Katsav announced that he had no intention of resigning and instead asked Parliament to suspend him temporarily from office but maintain his immunity from criminal prosecution.

Anxious about the negative impact that the presidential sex scandal was having on Israel’s standing, Mr. Olmert took the unprecedented step of publicly calling for Mr. Katsav to resign. “Under these circumstances, there is no doubt in my mind that the president cannot continue to fulfill his position and must leave the president’s residence,” Mr. Olmert said.

While Mr. Katsav, 61, has not yet been formally charged because of the immunity that he enjoyed as head of state, Israeli prosecutors recommended on Tuesday that he be charged with rape, an offense that carries a maximum 16-year jail sentence.

It is alleged that Mr. Katsav, a married man, acted as a sexual predator, raping a female employee when he was serving as tourism minister and sexually assaulting another female staff member in the presidency.

With an increasingly hostile Israeli public demanding his resignation, Mr. Katsav’s stance was seen by many as a delaying strategy.

“The law does not oblige me to resign,” he said at an emergency press conference at his official west Jerusalem residence.