Olmert found guilty of illegally taking overseas donations
Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert has been found guilty of illegally receiving money from an American supporter, and has been sentenced to eight months imprisonment.
Olmert was found guilty last year on separate charges of bribery and was given six years. His lawyers say he will appeal against the latest decision, and are already taking the bribery conviction to the Supreme Court.
For the moment Olmert remains a free man, but the 69-year-old’s political career is dead. He was forced to resign in early 2009 over the bribery allegations.
This opened the door to the return to power of Benjamin Netanyahu, and ended Israeli attempts to forge a peace with the Palestinians that Olmert was trying to broker.
Olmert was found guilty last year on separate charges of bribery and was given six years. His lawyers say he will appeal against the latest decision, and are already taking the bribery conviction to the Supreme Court.
For the moment Olmert remains a free man, but the 69-year-old’s political career is dead. He was forced to resign in early 2009 over the bribery allegations.
This opened the door to the return to power of Benjamin Netanyahu, and ended Israeli attempts to forge a peace with the Palestinians that Olmert was trying to broker.