Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been sentenced to eight months in prison for fraud and breach of trust. He was convicted at a retrial in March of taking more than $150,000 (£96,000) from a US businessman. His lawyers have said they will appeal. The sentence is in addition to a six-year jail term he received last year, after a separate bribery trial. Olmert served as Israeli PM from 2006 to 2009. He was forced to resign amid corruption allegations, which ended his political career. His departure disrupted the Israeli peace process with the Palestinians and cleared the way for the election of Benjamin Netanyahu, seen as more hardline on the peace issue. 'Witch-hunt' Olmert was acquitted of accepting envelopes stuffed with cash from New York-based financier, Morris Talansky in 2012. However, a retrial was ordered after recordings emerged, in which he referred to receiving the money while trade and industry minister in the early 2000s. Olmert has always claimed he is innocent and has described the allegations against him as "a brutal, ruthless witch-hunt". The 69-year-old is currently appealing against the six-year sentence he was given in May 2014 over a real estate deal that took place when he was mayor of Jerusalem in the 1990s. He was convicted of accepting bribes in return for speeding up a controversial residential development, known as Holyland, in the heart of the city.
