JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appealed his conviction and prison sentence for accepting cash-filled envelopes from an American-Jewish businessman in the so-called Talansky Affair.
Olmert asked Israel’s Supreme Court to delay the start of his eight-month prison term pending his appeal, according to reports.
He also is currently in the midst of an appeal of his conviction for accepting bribes in the Holyland Affair, for which he was fined and sentenced to six years in prison. In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that he could delay the start of his prison sentence pending all appeals.
In a second trial in March, Olmert was found guilty of accepting envelopes filled with money from American Jewish businessman Morris “Moshe” Talansky and using it for personal — not political — expenses.
Olmert is the first Israeli prime minister to be sentenced to prison.
