Former Israeli PM Olmert's jail term cut, cleared of main charge

Israel's top court slashed former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's prison sentence to 18 months from six years on Dec. 29 after overturning the main count in his 2014 bribery conviction.

Olmert, 70, will begin serving his term on Feb. 15, according to live reports from the Jerusalem courtroom, making him the first former head of government in Israel to go to prison. 

The charges related to his 1992-2003 term as Jerusalem's mayor and real estate deals in the city. 

The conviction ended speculation that Olmert - a centrist credited with working towards a peace settlement with the Palestinians until the graft scandal forced him to step down - might return to political life. 

The Kadima party he formerly headed is no longer in parliament. 

Olmert, prime minister from 2006 to 2009, has denied any wrongdoing in a major property deal that led to the construction of the hilltop Holyland apartment towers, a hulking stone complex widely seen as one of Jerusalem's worst eyesores. 

"A large weight has been lifted from my heart with the Supreme Court deciding to acquit me of the main charge in the Holyland affair," Olmert told reporters after the Supreme Court ruling. 

"No bribe was ever offered to me and I never accepted one," said Olmert, who wore an open-neck blue shirt and looked visibly relieved. "But I respect the verdict of the Supreme Court justices." 

Tel Aviv District Court found Olmert guilty in March 2014 of two bribery charges, finding that he accepted 500,000 shekels from developers of the Holyland project and 60,000 shekels in a separate real estate deal. 

The six-year sentence handed down by the lower court had been put on hold until the culmination of the appeal. 

Issuing its...