Except in Iceland possibly the General Corruption is Worse in most lands and people's so there is no need to beat Judaism which has many types from atheist humanitarian to the antizionist Satmar .

Patrick Hapoopoo, you show your ignorance. I doubt you are jewish, else you'd know Ishaiah was moaning about ethics a few hundred years after Moses was no more. We have many a rogue in our midst. Madoff, etc.. We out them.. You Swiss stole trust money from the Holocaust victime, gave some to Germany qand built many an enterprize. You are a hypocrite with no room to talk. Your name stinks.

This is the best news of the year !! Finally the law is finding the lawless guilty ! Maybe ,just maybe we will see a change in the attitudes of people in power. The time has come to root out all the cronyism and " protexia and "favours "etc ! The Holyland project is an abomination not just the bribe taking but also the buildings thgemselves ! In my opinion they were built illegally and should be demolished !

Haivng told the osloists from livni to herzog and galon peretz, all of haaretz, beyond peace be illusory as the arabs had zero interest in it and concessions endangered israel militarily to any halfwit, olmert argued the opposite, and offered so many concessions supported by the peace camp. I knew olmert could never be trusted, did not tell people about winograd criticism of him in hezbollah war, and was the last guy totrust. Yet the livnis and media kept resurrecting the hero olmert. Any half wit with no the difference. Now the peace camp is finished, just finished as I agree totally with rozen. The peace camp can also take the coward bibi who is not far from olmret in his misjudgement and peace delusions that he got from ehud barak. peace is garbage and to hell with abbas and kerry.

What a disgusting man! What a disgusting bunch of men! In cases like this, maybe Islam is right- cut off the hands of these stinking thieves. All of them will hopefully rot in prison for the next 25 years. Confiscate all the properties and possessions that these crooks own and sell them off to pay for the State's legal expenses. Why do Israel's elected officials always turn out to be shysters? The world sees Israel as a country of shysters, thanks to jackasses like Olmert and crew. It's hard enough being a Jew in the world today without the likes of Olmert and Madoff lending their talents. And the orthodox ex-mayor of Jerusalem? Disgusting. His wife and friends knew nothing? Hard to believe.Power corrupts, absolutely. jail time for all of them- and their jobs should be cleaning the bathrooms for the next 25 years. Israeli leaders- hoodlums of the worst kind. In China, these fellows would be taken outside and shot to make a powerful example. Israel needs to make an example of these bums to the world, to let the world know that this is NOT business as usual and that these criminals will pay an extreme price for their actions.

Mr. Olmert gave away Gush Katif. Now he is being put away. Today we see the Hand of G-d in full view.

Wondering wht he gave it all to Arafat.... was there money involved there too. This guy nearly destroyed Israel single handed. Execution anyone?

I thought I had met an honest Israeli and I do believe he tried. In the end, it was too much. What he filched was of almost no value and I'd have given it to him, had he expressed the slightest interest. He wouldn't even have had to ask. Now, in addition to the disappointment that will never go away, I wonder what else is missing.

I agree with your assessment that there needs to be a change in the system to the effect that individuals cannot hide behind a party, but will be personally held accountable for misdeeds and be rewarded/honored for living up to their promises. Not believing in any religion, I do, however, wonder, if what you describe as endemic corruption doesn't go back much, much further, when-according to the good book-it seems to have been OK to lie on the way into Egypt and steal on the way out.

When Tzipi Livni and Amir Peretz leave politics, the last of the stench will be gone. What a horrible phase of Israeli politics!

that's how you measure justice! on the other hand, you will never see anything like this happend in the middle east, and belive me, not because their leaders are angels

in case olmert's lawyers file an appeal of his rozen's conviction, state should indict olmert for corruption especially if zaken's tapes clearly show olmert trying to influence zaken not to testify for state. This will humble his arrogant defense team with their big mouths. Olmert was guilty in the court of public opinion long ago, seriously guilty. and the media, so me of them still pretend some of the israelis would vote for olmert again. What abunch of gullible and weak-knead jews they all are. Visit him in jail, cause that is where he is surely headed for at least 5 years or more. The 150 dead idf needlessly sent by this security ignoramus can now have some comfort in heaven while olmert rots in jail for at least 3 years.

ideology I am heart broken to my bones.... We are loosing it. The Palestinians do not need to blow up, the can eat Lafa with satar and just wait....

Reuters was quick to jump on Olmert's conviction and published a damning article earlier today under the title "Factbox: Crime and corruption among Israel's political elite". Google it for details. It should be noted that the list only includes those politicians who were caught!

So there is at least one Tzadik left in Sdom after all!

Au contraire! The fact that corruption and other crimes are not being swept under the carpet no matter how high-profile are the perpetuators, will tell the world that we are a nation that values morality. Compare this with the alleged mega-corruption claims against the ruling AK Party Prime Minister in Turkey who in an attempt to reduce the allegations have limited the internet access to its people, outlawed Twitter accounts and Youtube... Poor Turkish Nation. Ataturk must be turning in his grave.

watched the whole circus this morning, the hysteria of the media caught out looking like the fools they are for covering up for the corrupt for years. i am glad to see that the state witness who was hounded to death by the vicious lawyers of olmert has been avenged now . when the judge said he believed the troubled evidence of the state witness and not the endless lies of olmert, it was a great feel good moment. hope bibi is paying attention and does not continue to sell us out to our enemies.

The Israelites didn't lie neither steal on their way out of Egypt. They worked for many years and many years under hardship and without pay. On their way out they took what belonged to them: Their salaries.