FORMER Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has been sentenced to eight months in prison for unlawfully accepting money from a US supporter.
The verdict in Jerusalem District Court caps the dramatic downfall of a politician who only a matter of a few years ago had led the Middle Eastern country and had hoped to bring about a historic peace agreement with the Palestinians.
Olmert was convicted in March in a retrial and the sentencing comes in addition to a six-year prison term he received last year in a separate bribery conviction, ensuring the end of the former premier’s political career.
His lawyers said they would appeal against the ruling.
Olmert was forced to resign in early 2009 amid the corruption allegations. His departure cleared the way for hardliner Benjamin Netanyahu’s election and subsequent peace efforts have not succeeded.
Olmert’s lawyer, Eyal Rozovsky, described the the former Israeli leader’s legal team as being “very disappointed” by the ruling and would appeal to Israel’s Supreme Court.
They were granted a 45-day stay, meaning Olmert will avoid jail for now. Olmert also was given a suspended sentence of an additional eight months and fined the equivalent of £16,130.
Character witnesses who had vouched for Olmert included former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and former Israeli Mossad chief Meir Dagan.
The verdict stated that it recognised Olmert’s vast contributions to Israeli society and sentenced him to less than the prosecution had demanded. However, it ruled that “a black flag hovers over his conduct”.
Olmert, 69, was acquitted in 2012 of a series of charges that included accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from US businessman Morris Talansky when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and a cabinet minister.
Olmert was found to have received about $600,000 (£380,000) from Mr Talansky during his term as mayor, and additional amounts in cash during his term as a cabinet minister, but a court did not find evidence the money had been used for unlawful personal reasons or illegal campaign financing.
Mr Talansky, an Orthodox Jew from New York’s Long Island, had testified the money was spent on expensive cigars, first-class travel and luxury hotels, while insisting he had received nothing in return.
The acquittal on the most serious charges at the time was seen as a major victory for Olmert, who denied being corrupt.
He was convicted only on a lesser charge of breach of trust for steering job appointments and contracts to clients of a business partner, and it raised hopes for his political comeback.
However, Olmert’s former office manager and confidant Shula Zaken later became a state’s witness, offering diary entries and tape recordings of conversations with Olmert about illicitly receiving cash, leading to a retrial.
In the recordings, Olmert is heard telling Ms Zaken not to testify in the first trial so she would not incriminate him.
The judges concluded that Olmert gave Ms Zaken part of the money in exchange for her loyalty, and used the money for his own personal use without reporting it according to law.
They convicted him on a serious charge of illicitly receiving money, as well as fraud and breach of trust.
In a separate trial in March 2014, Olmert was convicted of bribery over a Jerusalem real estate scandal and was sentenced to six years in prison.
He appealed and has been allowed to stay out of prison until a verdict is delivered.
At the time Olmert resigned as prime minister, Israel and the Palestinians had been engaged in more than a year of intense negotiations over the terms of Palestinian independence.
The Palestinians seek all of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, in addition to the Gaza Strip, for an independent state.
Israel occupied all three areas after the 1967 war, though it withdrew from Gaza in 2005.
Since leaving office, Olmert has said he had presented the Palestinians with the most generous Israeli proposal in history, offering roughly 95 per cent of the West Bank, along with a land swap covering the remaining five per cent of territory.
In addition, Olmert proposed international administration in East Jerusalem, which is home to the city’s most sensitive religious sites.
Palestinian officials have said that while progress was made, Olmert’s assessment was overly optimistic.
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