FORMER Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was found guilty yesterday of accepting bribes in a retrial of corruption charges, the latest chapter in the downfall of a man who only years earlier hoped to lead the country to a historic peace agreement with the Palestinians.

    Olmert’s lawyers said they would likely appeal the ruling by the Jerusalem District Court. A sentencing hearing is slated to take place in May.

    Olmert has claimed he was on the brink of a historic agreement with the Palestinians when he was forced to resign in early 2009 amid corruption allegations. His departure cleared the way for hard-liner Benjamin Netanyahu’s election, and subsequent peace efforts have not succeeded.

    Olmert was acquitted in 2012 of a series of charges that included accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from U.S. businessman Morris Talansky when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem and a Cabinet minister. Olmert was found to have received about US$600,000 from Talansky during his term as mayor, and additional amounts in cash during his term as a Cabinet minister, but a court did not find evidence the money had been used for unlawful personal reasons.

    The acquittal on the most serious charges at the time was seen as a major victory for Olmert, who denied being corrupt. He was convicted only on a lesser charge of breach of trust for steering job appointments and contracts to clients of a business partner, and it raised hopes for his political comeback.

    But Olmert’s former office manager and confidant Shula Zaken later became a state’s witness, offering diary entries and tape recordings of conversations with Olmert about illicitly receiving cash, leading to a retrial. In the recordings, Olmert is heard telling Zaken not to testify in the first trial so she would not incriminate him.

    A panel of judges at the Jerusalem District Court ruled that Olmert had accepted US$153,950 from Talansky when he was a Cabinet minister, with the money kept hidden by an Olmert aide in a safe. The judges concluded that Olmert gave Zaken part of that money in exchange for her loyalty, and used the money for his own personal use without reporting it according to law and in exchange for favors to Talansky, calling it a “serious conflict of interest.” They convicted him on charges of fraud and breach of trust.

    Olmert’s lawyer, Eyal Rozovsky, said Olmert’s legal team was “of course very disappointed from the ruling” and said his lawyers would review it and likely appeal.

    (SD-Agencies)