Nazareth Illit mayor ordered to jail after losing graft appeal

The Supreme Court on Thursday rejected an appeal by the mayor of Nazereth Illit against a bribery conviction and said his crime carried with it moral turpitude, while also sending him to prison for six months.

Shimon Gapso was forced to resign as mayor immediately, and new elections will be held in 60 days.

Gapso had appealed against a February 2015 conviction by the Haifa District Court which found him guilty of trying to force a member of the northern town’s city council to resign. At the time he was given six months’ community service and a NIS 20,000 ($5,290) fine.

The Supreme Court justices not only rejected the mayor’s appeal but also accepted an request from the state prosecution that sought prison time for him, along with a finding that he was guilty of moral turpitude.

Under Israeli law a conviction that carries with it moral turpitude triggers a ban from holding public office for seven years.

The court ruled that Gapso “was directly and closely involved in the activities that his people carried out after the elections for the Nazareth Illit city council in November 2008,” Channel 2 reported.

After the ruling, a defiant Gapso vowed to return to politics, the report said.

It was not immediately clear when he will enter prison.

Gapso and his former deputy mayor Adi Barko had been found guilty by the Haifa District Court of coercing a councilman to step down after the 2008 elections, threatening that otherwise his wife would lose her job with the city.

The councilman defied Gapso and Barko’s threats and the woman was fired.

Judge Oded Gershon ruled that making continued employment of his wife dependent on the councilman’s resignation constituted a form of bribery.

Gapso’s political career has been dogged by suspicions of bribery and corruption.