Israel’s top court slashed former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s prison sentence from six years to 18 months after overturning the main count in his 2014 bribery conviction.
Mr. Olmert (70) will begin serving his term on February 15, according to live reports from the Jerusalem courtroom, making him the first former head of government in Israel to go to prison.
Charges pertain to his mayoral stint
The charges related to his 1992-2003 term as Jerusalem’s mayor and real estate deals in the city.
The conviction ended speculation that Mr. Olmert -- a centrist credited with working towards a peace settlement with the Palestinians until the graft scandal forced him to step down -- might return to political life.
The Kadima party he formerly headed is no longer in parliament.
Mr. Olmert, Prime Minister from 2006 to 2009, has denied any wrongdoing in a major property deal that led to the construction of the hilltop Holyland apartment towers, a hulking stone complex widely seen as one of Jerusalem’s worst eyesores.
Guilty of accepting 60,000 shekels
Tel Aviv District Court found Mr. Olmert guilty in March 2014 of two bribery charges, finding that he accepted 5,00,000 shekels from developers of the Holyland project and 60,000 shekels in a separate real estate deal.
The six-year sentence handed down by the lower court had been put on hold until the culmination of the appeal.
Issuing its ruling, a five-member Supreme Court panel said it had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt that Mr. Olmert had solicited the 500,000 shekels from a real estate developer, to help the veteran politician’s brother get out of debt. It upheld his conviction on accepting the smaller amount.
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