FORMER Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert was convicted yesterday on corruption charges of unlawfully accepting money from a US supporter.

Mr Olmert’s conviction in a retrial could mean five years in prison for him, in addition to a six-year prison sentence he received last year in a separate bribery conviction.

“His corrupt behaviour constitutes a breach of trust which harms the public, harms morality and harms the public’s trust,” said prosecutor Uri Korev after the verdict.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for May, but Mr Olmert’s lawyers said that they would probably appeal against the verdict by the Jerusalem District Court.

He was acquitted in 2012 of a series of charges that included accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from US businessman Morris Talansky when Mr Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and a cabinet minister.

It was found that he had received about $600,000 from Mr Talansky during his term as mayor and additional amounts in cash during his term as a cabinet minister, but a court found no evidence that the money had been used for unlawful personal reasons or illegal campaign financing.

Mr Talansky testified that the money had been spent on expensive cigars, first-class travel and luxury hotels, while insisting that he had received nothing in return.

The acquittal on the most serious charges was seen as a major victory for Mr Olmert.

But his former office manager and confidant Shula Zaken later turned state witness, offering diary entries and tape recordings of conversations with Mr Olmert about illicitly receiving cash, leading to a retrial.

by Our Foreign Desk