Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was on Monday sentenced to eight months in prison on charges of graft, fraud and breach of trust, becoming the first premier in the country’s history to serve a jail term.
The Jerusalem District Court passed the sentence in the so-called Talansky case in which Olmert, 69, was accused of accepting envelopes filled with money from American-Jewish businessman Morris “Moshe” Talansky. The court also slapped a fine of $25,000 on him.
The former PM was acquitted in 2012 on grounds of reasonable doubt, but the judges overturned their decision two months ago, following the prosecution’s appeal, which was based on Olmert’s former bureau chief Shula Zaken’s testimony. Zaken had become a state’s witness offering diary entries and tape recordings of conversations with Olmert about illicitly receiving cash, leading to a retrial.
The Israeli leader, who served as a lawmaker for decades and as the Mayor of Jerusalem for two terms was found guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of shekels for private use while serving as Minister of Trade, Industry and Labour.