Israeli former prime minister Ehud Olmert was found guilty of bribery yesterday by a Tel Aviv court following a two-year trial.

Mr Olmert also convicted of perjury in the case, which involved 16 other defendants accused of wrongdoing in the construction of Jerusalem’s Holyland residential development.

The ex-PM was the mayor of the city at the time and received bribes that prosecutors said totalled £130,000.

The 68-year-old and several associates were accused of helping the towering construction project, which is widely reviled as a blot on the city’s skyline, to pass planning obstacles.

“We’re talking about corrupt and filthy practices,” Judge David Rosen said, condemning a “corrupt political system in which hundreds of thousands of shekels were transferred to elected officials.”

Mr Olmert is due to be sentenced on April 28 and will likely receive time in prison.