Israeli ex-Prime Minister Olmert Convicted of Corruption

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been found guilty of bribery in the "Holyland affair".

The case has been known as one of the worst corruption scandals in Israel's history.

The BBC quotes Judge David Rozen in Tel Aviv as saying while delivering the verdict that the case revealed how Israel's governance under Olmert "grew more corrupt and rotten over the years".

In the so-called "Holyland affair", a luxury property development was accelerated through bribery worth hundreds of thousands of dollars received by the former Prime Minister.

Olmert resigned in 2008, as a trial was launched against him to look into the scheme. Despite being acquitted of two charges in 2012, the same year he was also found guilty in a trial accusing him of granting favours to a business friend while he was trade and industry minister.

On Monday, 13 of 16 other defendants were also convicted over their participation in the affair.

It is not clear when a sentence would be passed by court, but Olmert could be facing a few years in jail.

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