Olmert may want final deal on corruption cases

Attorney for ex-PM, set to start jail term next month, seeks meeting with state prosecutor ahead of appeal next week

An attorney for convicted former prime minister Ehud Olmert requested a meeting with State Attorney Shai Nitzan ahead of an appeal against one of his client’s two jail-carrying convictions for corruption and bribery.

Attorney Eyal Rozovsky sought out the conference with Nitzan, though the exact purpose was not known, Channel 2 reported on Monday. It speculated that Olmert was seeking some kind of arrangement to close all remaining legal avenues and minimize his jail time.

Olmert was one of eight former officials and businessmen convicted in March 2014 in a real estate corruption case known as the Holyland affair that officials have characterized as the largest in Israel’s history.

Next week, Olmert is set to appeal his bribery conviction in the so-called Talansky affair, which earned him an eight-month prison sentence.

Rozovsky was likely seeking to reach an agreement with the state prosecution ahead of the appeals hearing in the Supreme Court that would see the Talansky sentence withdrawn, or at least that it run concurrently with the 18-month prison term in the Holyland affair, according to reports.

While it struck down the main bribery conviction for Olmert’s part in the Holyland scandal, the Supreme Court last month upheld a more minor bribery conviction in the case, reducing the former prime minister’s sentence from six years to 18 months. He and others whose convictions were upheld in the case will begin serving their sentences on February 15.

The 70-year-old former premier was convicted in 2014 of accepting bribes during his stints as mayor of Jerusalem and as minister of industry and trade, in exchange for helping win municipal approval for the Holyland residential development near the capital’s southwestern Malha neighborhood.

He was found guilty last year of accepting envelopes full of cash from American businessman and fundraiser Morris Talansky in exchange for political favors during his decade-long term as mayor of Jerusalem.

When he eventually enters his prison cell it will mark the first time an Israeli prime minister will serve time in prison.