Judges of the Tel Aviv District Court announced on Sunday that the failure of Moshe Katzav and his defense team to respond to the sexual assault and rape cases against him amount to a "definite denial" of the charges.

The court denied the defense team's attempts to be relieved of the case and told the attorneys they had to meet the deadlines of responding to the charges.

The former president is accused of sexual attacks against a number of his employees as president and minister.