Israel’s State Prosecution is considering an appeal against what it considers the excessively lenient sentence handed down to former prime minister Ehud Olmert on Monday by the Jerusalem District Court.

Israel’s former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been handed a suspended jail sentence and a fine for breach of trust.

A Jerusalem court convicted Olmert in July of being improperly involved in directing contracts to friends of a business associate.

If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, what is it? That's right: it's a lame duck political party. It's Kadima.

This is the sorry state of Kadima now: on paper, it is the largest political party in the Knesset, but in reality has lost much of its electoral support to a resurgent Labour Party and newcomer Yair Lapid.

The former Israeli Prime Minister has described the Palestinian leader as a "partner for peace".

Ehud Olmert, who resigned from his position in 2009 amid allegations of corruption, dismissed claims that Israel had no partner for negotiations. However he said that all options should be considered for dealing with the Iranian threat.

Ehud Olmert is facing new corruption charges.

The former Israeli Prime Minister has been indicted over claims he sought bribes in returning for supporting housing development and other property projects.

The bribery allegations about the permits given for the Holyland housing development date back to his time as mayor of Jerusalem, between 1993 and 2003.

The first Palestinian Legislative Council elections in a decade, the Palestinian elections of 2006 marked a turning point in Middle East politics as Hamas came out triumphant at the polls.

Ruling party Fatah took just 43 of the 132 Palestinian Authority parliamentary seats, while a group viewed around the world as a terrorist organisation took 76.