Former Israeli PM Ehud Olmert found guilty in bribery case

The former Israeli Prime Minister, centre, arrived in court to face charges related to his time as Mayor of Jerusalem (AP)

The former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faces prison and the end of his political career after being convicted in a bribery case.

The charges related to Olmert’s time as Mayor of Jerusalem, and claims that millions of pounds were paid to politicians and business people to fast-track a luxury property project.

The verdict could send him to prison and looks to have crushed his hopes for a political comeback.

The development ends the most serious legal battle 68-year-old Olmert has faced since he was forced to step down as prime minister in 2009 amid a flurry of corruption allegations.

It also capped a political career that saw Olmert transform himself from a sharp-tongued backbencher in the hardline Likud Party into a global statesman whose push for peace with the Palestinians came crashing down due to his legal troubles.

The Tel Aviv district court handed down its decision in a Jerusalem real estate scandal case related to Olmert's activities before he become prime minister in 2006.

A total of 13 government officials, developers and other business people were charged in connection with three separate schemes related to the Holyland housing development in Jerusalem, in what was regarded as perhaps the largest corruption scandal ever exposed in Israel.

"It is not an easy day for Olmert," his lawyer Roy Blecher said upon leaving the courtroom.

Sentencing is set for April 28. Legal experts said the conviction will almost certainly entail prison time for Olmert.

According to the original 2012 indictment, millions of dollars illegally changed hands to promote a series of real estate projects, including a controversial housing development in Jerusalem that required a radical change in zoning laws and earned the developers tax breaks and other benefits.

Olmert was charged for acts committed while he was mayor of Jerusalem and minister of industry and trade. He was accused of taking bribes to push the project forward.

The conviction puts a dramatic end to Olmert's long political career, which was dogged by corruption allegations but which - until now - rarely stuck.

Without a natural rival to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Olmert was often mentioned as a potential centre-left alternative, should he survive his legal woes.

Olmert is expected to appeal against the decision, but either way his political career is over, said Tamir Sheafer, a professor of political science at Jerusalem's Hebrew University.

"Even if he is somehow exonerated, his career is over," he said. "He had to come out as pure as snow to carry on."

Olmert has already faced a trial on separate charges of accepting illicit funds from an American supporter and double-billing Jewish groups for trips abroad.

He was cleared in 2012 of the most serious charges but convicted on a lesser count of breach of trust for steering jobs and contracts to clients of business partners and got a suspended one-year sentence.

AP