Finbarr O'Reilly/Reuters
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was sentenced to six years in prison on Tuesday for his involvement in a bribery scandal. He was convicted of two counts of bribery in March for accepting money to assist a residential property project while he was mayor of Jerusalem. He was also ordered to pay one million shekels (about $290,000). Judge David Rozen was damning as he described the former leader’s crimes. “A public servant who accepts bribes is akin to a traitor,” he said. Olmert’s involvement in this scandal and other corruption charges forced him to resign as prime minister in 2008. The maximum sentence for his conviction was seven years. Prosecutor Yonatan Tadmor said: “The fact that the defendant served in the highest position does not serve as immunity for him in the face of punishment as for all people. The opposite.”