Ex-Israeli PM confesses to witness tampering amid plea bargain

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who has been found guilty on graft charges, was convicted by the Jerusalem magistrate court on Tuesday of witness tampering amid a plea bargain reached with the state prosecution.

Ehud Olmert, who served as the Israeli Prime Minister between 2006 and 2009 and is set to start serving an 18-month prison term over graft charges later this month, admitted Tuesday to witness tempering, after asking his former aide to lie for him in court in exchange for money.

The charges against Olmert in this case are of obstruction of justice, as he attempted to silence a witness, his former secretary Shula Zaken, in his corruption trials.

Zaken, who initially agreed to the proposal, changed her mind and testified against Olmert in court last year, delivering incriminating recordings of him.

Her testimony reopened a graft trial known as the Talansky affair, in which Olmert was charged with fraud, breach of trust and aggravated assault, after receiving cash-filled envelopes from a U.S. business mogul.

Olmert was sent to eight months in prison for the Talansky affair, and an appeal against his punishment is currently pending.

As part of the deal presented on Tuesday, in exchange for Olmert's confession, he will receive a fine of 50,000 shekels (about 13,000 U.S. dollars) and sentenced to six months in prison, which would be served concurrently with the 18-month term he was sentenced to over the Holyland real-estate corruption affair.

The Jerusalem Magistrate court will announce on February 10 whether it accepts the punishment included in the plea bargain or whether it would change it, with some criticism sounding off at the court for the light punishment asked by the state.

This the first time an Israeli official confesses to illegal wrongdoings in court proceedings.

Olmert was originally sentenced to six years in prison on May 2014 by a Tel Aviv District Court judge over graft charges in the Holyland affair, committed during the time he had served as the mayor of Jerusalem, between 1993 and 2003.

In this case, Olmert was found guilty of accepting bribery of nearly 144,000 U.S. dollars to push forward the real-estate project in Jerusalem. Ten other officials and contractors were also convicted in the affair.

In December 2015, the Supreme Court accepted Olmert's appeal and decreased the term to 18 months.

Olmert, originally a member of the right-wing Likud party, now headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, joined the center-left Kadima party, led by Ariel Sharon, in 2005.

He resigned from his post in late 2008 after corruption allegations started to surface against him. Endit