A three-judge panel in Israel convicted a powerful Sephardi political leader Tuesday of taking bribes, fraud and breach of public trust in a case that could raise ethnic tensions in the run-up to Israel’s May 17 elections. Among the most serious offenses, Arye Deri, the leader of the fervently Orthodox Shas Party, was found guilty of taking up to $155,000 in bribes and trips abroad during the 1980s from three other defendants in exchange for siphoning off state money for Shas-related institutions while serving in the Interior Ministry. Deri’s lawyer said he would appeal the verdict.
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