JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, following his acquittal on the most serious corruption charges, said he does not intend to return to politics.
Olmert, speaking Thursday at a conference in Tel Aviv two days after he was acquitted on corruption charges that prompted his resignation from office four years ago, also said that he would remain a member of the Kadima party.
"I want to calm down anyone who is worried — I have no intention of re-entering politics," Olmert reportedly said a conference of the Institute for National Security Studies. "I am not involved in politics. I deal with other issues and nothing else. I don’t have a shelf party — I am a member of Kadima."
The Jerusalem District Court acquitted Olmert on charges of fraud, breach of trust, tax evasion and falsifying corporate records in what became known as the Talansky and Rishon Tours affairs. He was found guilty on a lesser charge of breach of trust in the Investment Center case, in which Olmert was accused of granting personal favors while he was Israel’s trade minister.
Olmert is expected to appeal the breach of trust conviction, which would carry a prison sentence and make him the first Israeli prime minister to go behind bars. He had pleaded not guilty on all charges.
In a statement made after the executive summary of the decision was read, Olmert said, "After over four years this case has finally come to its end. Four years ago the media was riddled with reports of ‘cash envelopes’ and illicit money. Well, today the court found that there was no such thing. This was not corruption, there were no cash-filled envelopes, there was no bribery, there was no illicit use of funds."
