On Tuesday, the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court sentenced Omri Sharon, the eldest son of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, to a nine-month jail term, a nine-month suspended sentence and a fine of NIS 300,000 (about USD 65,000) for fraud and perjury. Sharon will remain free until August because his father is in a coma.
Omri Sharon, 41, was forced to resign his seat in Parliament after pleading guilty to accepting illegal donations for his father’s campaign for the Likud party leadership in 1999.
Judge Edna Buckstein said that Israeli politics "must be emptied of corruption" and that Omri Sharon’s goal was to raise funds using a number of illegal measures. Sharon’s attorneys have already announced that they would appeal the sentence.
