Ex-Israeli PM cleared of corruption

The verdict was seen as a major victory for Olmert, who stepped down as prime minister for the centrist Kadima Party in 2009 to battle allegations that included accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from a supporter and pocketing the proceeds from a double-billing scam on overseas travel.

His conviction on the lesser charge of “breach of trust” made him the first Israeli prime minister ever convicted of a crime, and his legal troubles are far from over.

He will be sentenced on September 6 and is currently standing trial in a separate property bribery case. For now at least, a return to politics for the 66-year-old appears unlikely.

Olmert appeared calm and relieved as the verdict was delivered in the Jerusalem court.

As he left the courtroom, the former prime minister had a wide smile on his face and kissed defence lawyers and advisers.

Speaking to reporters afterwards, Olmert proudly declared his innocence.

“There was no corruption. There was no taking of money. There was no use of money. There were no cash envelopes,” Olmert said. He said the lone conviction was merely a “procedural lapse” .

The verdict, which capped a two-year trial, covered three separate allegations: illegally accepting funds from an American supporter, double-billing Jewish groups for trips abroad and channelling state grants to companies linked to a close friend. He was acquitted in the first two cases and found guilty in the last.

Jewish American businessman Morris Talansky was flown in to testify that he handed the former Israeli leader envelopes stuffed with hundreds of thousands of dollars, painting him as a high-living traveller fond of fancy hotels and first-class travel.

The court on Tuesday convicted a close Olmert aide, Shula Zaken, of fraud and breach of trust in relation to the double billing case, but said there was “reasonable doubt” that the prime minister knew what had happened. It noted that Zaken refused to testify, making it difficult to convict Olmert.

In the last case, the court convicted Olmert of breach of trust for steering job appointments and contracts to clients of a close associate as minister of industry and trade. The court called it a “harsh conflict of interest that amounted to a breach of trust because there was a conflict between his personal commitment to this man and his public responsibilities”.

Olmert’s lawyer, Eli Zohar, said he would not appeal.

The charges stemmed from Olmert’s time as mayor of Jerusalem and later as a Cabinet minister.

After he was indicted in 2008, he announced his resignation, remaining as prime minister until February 2009 elections that brought the current prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, into office.

Olmert still faces many more months in court. He is currently on trial in a bribery scandal surrounding a controversial Jerusalem property project.

The September 6 sentencing will decide Olmert’s political future. If sentenced to at least three months of prison time or community service and be barred from re-entering politics for seven years.

Israel’s leadership has been tarnished multiple times by convictions in recent years, and members of Olmert’s own Cabinet are currently sitting in jail. His former finance minister was sentenced to five years for embezzlement, and another member of his Cabinet was sentenced to four years for taking bribes. Neither case occurred while the two were in the Cabinet.

In an unrelated case, last year former Israeli president Moshe Katsav was sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of rape and other sex crimes.