Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been fined $19,170 and given a one-year suspended sentence for breaching the public’s trust.
Ehud Olmert was found guilty in July of illegally granting favors to a businessman while he was a minister.
He was cleared of corruption charges which forced him to resign in 2009.
Ehud Olmert is now eligible to run for parliament, though he remains barred from serving in the cabinet while he faces another corruption trial.
Officials in Jerusalem are alleged to have taken bribes during his term as the city’s mayor, between 1993 and 2003, and under his successor, to speed up a controversial residential development, known as Holyland.
Ehud Olmert was found guilty in July of illegally granting favors to a businessman while he was a minister
Ehud Olmert has denied any involvement in the multi-million dollar scandal.
In July the court in Jerusalem found that, while trade and industry minister, Ehud Olmert had made decisions that benefited companies that were represented by a close personal friend and former business partner, Uri Messer.
Ehud Olmert said he respected the court’s decision and that he would “learn the necessary lessons”, but insisted that the matter amounted to procedural irregularity rather than corruption.
Nevertheless, he said he would not appeal against the conviction.
At a hearing earlier this month, Ehud Olmert asked the judge for leniency in sentencing, saying “the worst accusations” had been made against him and that he had been subjected to a “media campaign of unprecedented size and intensity, in Israel and abroad”.
Prosecutors had sought a sentence of six months of community service, as well as a fine and probation, citing the degree of Ehud Olmert’s closeness to Uri Messer, his high position and the fact that there was more than one instance of conflict of interest.
After hearing the sentence, Ehud Olmert hugged his lawyer, Navot Tel Zur, and told reporters: “I leave court today with my head held up high.”
But Jerusalem District Attorney Eli Abarbanel said he was considering appealing and insisted: “This affair is not over.”
Explosion of a bus carrying Israeli tourists in the eastern Bulgarian city of Burgas has killed at least seven people, Israeli officials say.
More than 30 people were also injured when the bus exploded at Burgas airport, by the Black Sea.
Witnesses told Israeli TV that someone boarded the bus and a huge explosion immediately followed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later accused Iran of being behind the explosion.
“All the signs lead to Iran,” he said in a statement.
“Israel will respond forcefully to Iranian terror.”
More than 30 people were also injured when the bus exploded at Burgas airport
The Israeli foreign ministry said in a statement: “There are six bodies on the scene – one critically wounded died at the hospital and two seriously injured are in intensive care. Thirty more people are being treated.”
It said the bus was carrying tourists from a charter flight that arrived from Israel.
Wednesday’s blast came on the 18th anniversary of a deadly attack on a Jewish community centre in Argentina. Israel blamed Iran for that attack – a claim denied by Tehran.
Israeli officials said passengers from a Tel Aviv-Burgas flight boarded the bus shortly after 17:00 local time.
“We don’t know if it was a terror attack. We do know it was an explosion,” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Paul Hirschson was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.
Two buses standing nearby were also damaged.
“I arrived at the airport about half-an-hour after the explosion, and saw three buses completely burnt out – just the metal bars were left,” Bulgarian journalist Dobromir Dovkacharov said.
“There were crowds of people around, very distressed. One man said he saw decapitated heads. Others spoke of body parts flying through the air,” he added.
More than 40 people are reported to have been on the bus. Local officials say the death toll could rise further.
Burgas airport has now been closed and flights are being diverted to Varna.
In January there were reports that Israel had asked Bulgaria to tighten security for Israeli tourists travelling by bus.
This followed a reported discovery of a suspicious package found on a bus with Israeli tourists travelling from Turkey to Bulgaria.
Israeli tourists have been targeted in attacks in a number of countries around the world.
[youtube RCESkNJN7nI]
