Jerusalem judge slams Olmert plea deal with prosecution

At the Jerusalem magistrate’s court Tuesday, Judge Avital Chen Tuesday refused to hand down sentence on a plea bargain signed Jan. 18 between former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the prosecution. He agreed to confess to obstructing justice – for which he was sentenced to six months jail – in return for this term running concurrently with the 18 months ruled against him after appeal for corruption in the Holyland and Talansky envelopes affairs. Judge Chen argued that the plea bargain allowed the defendant to be let off the hook entirely on a charge of obstructing justice, and this was unacceptable. She will pronounce sentence in a  separate hearing called for Feb. 10.
Olmert starts his jail sentence next week, becoming the first Israeli prime minister to go to prison.