Israel ex-PM begins prison term

Ehud Olmert, once feted for his peace efforts with the Palestinians, yesterday became Israel's first former premier to serve jail time as he began a 19-month sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice.

With the nation transfixed and Israeli television broadcasting live, the 70-year-old entered the Maasiyahu prison in the central city of Ramle just before 10:00 am.

He was escorted to the prison by officers of Israel's Shin Bet domestic security agency as a crowd of journalists watched from nearby.

The charges against him date to before his time as prime minister, to the years when he served as mayor of Jerusalem and economy minister, among other positions.

In a video message released yesterday morning before he began his sentence, Olmert maintained his innocence. "You can imagine how painful and strange this change is to me, my family, loved ones and supporters," said Olmert, looking haggard and downcast. "I totally deny all the bribe charges attributed to me."

He added that "over the course of my extensive career I also made mistakes, though none of them were criminal by nature in my opinion. I'm paying a dear price for some of them today, perhaps too dear."