Israeli Supreme Court on Sunday rejected former President Moshe Katzav's appeal for additional hearing to reduce his seven-year prison sentence after he was found guilty of rape in December.

Iranian-born Katzav was convicted of raping a former female collaborator while he was tourism minister in the 1990s and sexually harassing two employees while in the presidency from 2000 to 2007.

Katzav, father of five, pleaded innocent during the whole trial, arguing that there was no real proof of the accusations.

On Sunday, Supreme Court Justice Esther Hayut denied Katzav's motion for an additional appeal on the ground that none of the claims was enough to grant him another hearing.

"I did not find any reason to grant the motion based on any of the claims and therefore the motion is denied," Hayut was quoted by local media Ynet.

Katzav's last chance to obtain a reduced jail sentence now will be only through a presidential pardon.

The former president is the highest ranking Israeli politician to have entered jail.