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Ex Israeli PM begins 19-month jail term

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Former Prime Minister of Israel Ehud Olmert has begun his 19-month prison sentence at the Maasiyahu jail for bribery and obstruction of justice conviction becoming the first ex Israeli premier to be imprisoned.

His detention follows a years-long legal saga that forced him to resign in 2006 during the last serious round of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

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Denying any wrongdoing in the bribery conviction against him, Olmert in a video before he was ushered into Maasiyahu prison in central Israel made a last-minute plea to Israeli’s meant to salvage his legacy appealing to the nation to remember his peace making efforts while he was still in power.

In the three-and-a-half minute video, released by his office and filmed at his home a day earlier, Olmert said he has accepted the sentence because “no man is above the law”.

“At this hour it is important for me to say again … I reject outright all the corruption allegations against me,” Olmert said in the footage. He said that in hindsight, the Israeli public might view the charges against him and the seven-year legal ordeal that enveloped him in a balanced and critical way. “I hope that then many will recognise that during my term as prime minister, honest and promising attempts were made to create an opening for hope and a better future of peace, happiness and well-being,” he added.

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