Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert found guilty of accepting bribes

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.

Lawyers for Olmert - who had previously been convicted in another bribery case last year - said they would likely appeal yesterday's 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 initially acquitted in 2012 of a series of charges that included accepting cash-stuffed envelopes from US 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 any evidence that 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.