Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who begins serving a prison sentence in February for corruption, signed a plea deal with the state on Monday, admitting to charges of obstruction of justice in both the Talansky Affair and the Holyland Affair, putting an end to the Shula Zacken controversy once and for all, reports broadcast on local radio indicated.
The deal was reportedly reached between Olmert's lawyer, who acted on behalf of his client, and the prosecutor who accused the 70-year-old of obstructing justice to begin with. According to these accusations, Olmert had tried to bribe his former secretary Shula Zacken not to testify against him in the corruption case, offering her money in exchange for her silence, according to AFP.
The corruption case, otherwise known as the Holyland Affair, in question stems from charges from 2014 which allege that Olmert, as well as seven other officials and businessmen, had accepted bribes relating to the construction of Jerusalem's massive Holyland residential complex in the 2000s. He was sentenced in March, and sentenced in May to six years in prison, in what officials characterized as the largest case of corruption in Israel's history.
However, the Supreme Court later reduced his sentence in December after acquitted him of the primary bribery conviction, only upholding a more minor bribery conviction thus reducing Olmert's original sentence from six years to 18 months, reported The Times Of Israel.
Olmert was also sentenced to eight months in prison following a conviction in the Talansky Affair last year. In that case, he was found guilty of accepting envelopes full of cash from American businessman and fundraiser Morris Talansky between 1993 and 2002 in exchange for political favors. In total, the former PM illegally recieved, used and concealed at least $153,950.
The plea deal prevents Olmert from serving his sentences back-to-back, reported the Associated Press. Instead he will sent to prison to serve the sentences concurrently, essentially being sentenced to time served, according to the Justice Ministry.
Olmert will begin serving that prison sentence on Feb. 15, becoming the first Israeli leader to go to prison.
