Olmert, Katsav among 260 prisoners sent home for Jewish holiday
Convicts allowed to leave jail for three-day furlough to celebrate Rosh Hashanah with family
Former prime minister Ehud Olmert, former president Moshe Katsav and celebrity rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto were among 260 prisoners released from prison on Sunday for a three-day furlough to spend the Jewish New Year with their families, the Israel Prison Service announced.
Prisoners who have served more than a quarter of their sentence and who meet certain criteria are regularly permitted to leave jail for a short period, according to the Prison Service.
Olmert, who served as prime minister from 2006 to 2009 and was previously the mayor of Jerusalem from 1993 to 2003, began his 19-month term for bribery and obstruction of justice in February. In August, he filed a formal application for early release which will be discussed by a parole board on December 25, Israel’s Channel 10 news reported at the time.
The former prime minister is considered to be “a good prisoner,” according to Prison Service officials quoted by the TV report, and the Prison Service is not expected to oppose an early release. A decision would therefore likely depend on the stance of the state prosecution.
Katsav, who was the eighth president of the State of Israel from 2000 to 2007, has served five years of a seven-year sentence for two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault. He has in recent months been seeking to have his jail time reduced by one-third for good behavior. In August, the Israel Prisons Service Parole Board rejected a plea for his early release for the second time this year.
The board ruled Thursday that the 70-year-old former president will be eligible to file a new request for commutation after he completes six months of in-prison rehabilitation.
Olmert and Katsav are both serving their sentences at Ma’asiyahu Prison in Ramle.
Pinto was sentenced to a year in jail and a NIS 1 million ($260,000) fine for bribing a senior police officer who subsequently retired from the force. In February, the rabbi began serving his sentence at Nitzan Prison also in Ramle.
On Thursday, a district court overturned a parole board decision to release him from jail early on medical grounds.
The rabbi enjoyed an international following among celebrities and business leaders, as well as high-powered contacts in the Israeli government and elsewhere. He was based in both Ashdod and New York and is a kabbalist who is part of the rabbinical Abuhatzeira clan, and is allegedly worth NIS 75 million.
The Times of Israel Community.