Israel ex-PM Ehud Olmert to serve jail term for bribery

[fanger]

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been ordered to serve 18 months in jail for bribery.

Olmert had been sentenced to six years by a lower court in 2014, but this was reduced by the Supreme Court.

The 70-year-old was convicted over a property deal that took place while he served as mayor of Jerusalem, prior to becoming prime minister in 2006.

Olmert, who stepped down in 2009, will become the first former Israeli head of government to go to prison.

He is due to begin serving his sentence on 15 February.
Israel ex-PM Ehud Olmert to serve jail term for bribery - BBC News

not the first, or the last Former Israel president Moshe Katsav begins jail term for rape

 

[Boston1]

Just goes to show that the Israeli's aren't screwing around with keeping their politicians honest.

Wish more countries would do this

 

[TheOldSchool]

Just goes to show that the Israeli's aren't screwing around with keeping their politicians honest.

Wish more countries would do this

Will you say the same thing when it happens to Netanyahu?

 

[Boston1]

Just goes to show that the Israeli's aren't screwing around with keeping their politicians honest.

Wish more countries would do this

Will you say the same thing when it happens to Netanyahu?

To be more accurate the term would be "IF"

And yes, I think all politicians, should be held accountable for their actions or misdeeds

Although I wouldn't limit the definition of a politician to just those governing an actual state, if you know what I mean ;--)

 

[montelatici]

Didn't Netanyahu run off to the U.S. when he was accused of corruption and only returned to Israel after the charges were mysteriously dropped. I'm talking about a decade or so ago.

 

[waltky]

Free at last, free at last - thank God almighty he's free at last...

Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert Released From Prison
Sunday 2nd July, 2017 - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was released from prison early Sunday, days after a parole board granted him early release from his 27-month corruption sentence.

Prison Service spokesman Assaf Librati said Olmert, 71, was whisked away by Israel's security service after his release and driven home after serving 16 months. He said the terms of Olmert's early release stipulate that for the next few months the former prime minister has to do volunteer work, must appear before police twice a month and cannot give interviews to the media or leave the country. He added that President Reuven Rivlin could relieve him of the parole restrictions.

Convicted of taking bribes

Olmert was convicted in 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a real-estate project in Jerusalem and obstructing justice. The charges pertained to a period when he was mayor of Jerusalem and trade minister before he became premier in 2006. His departure from office in 2009 ended the last major Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and ushered in the era of Benjamin Netanyahu.

Conciliatory toward Palestinians

Olmert was a longtime fixture in Israel's hawkish right wing when he began taking a dramatically more conciliatory line toward the Palestinians more than a decade ago. He played a leading role in Israel's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005 and became prime minister in January 2006 after then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a debilitating stroke. He resigned amid a corruption scandal that clouded his administration.

Olmert has said he made unprecedented concessions to the Palestinians - including a near-total withdrawal from the West Bank and an offer to place Jerusalem's Old City under international control - and was close to reaching an agreement at the time of his resignation.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Olmert Released From Prison