Israel court extends ex-leader Ehud Olmert's prison sentence

Jerusalem: An Israeli court extended former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's 18-month prison sentence by a month today for pressuring a confidant not to testify in multiple legal cases against him.

The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court rejected a plea bargain Olmert signed in January in which he pleaded guilty to charges of obstruction of justice in an attempt to avoid additional jail time.
Olmert is set to report to prison Monday. He will be the first Israeli former prime minister to go to prison.

Olmert was convicted in March 2014 in a wide-ranging case that accused him of accepting bribes to promote a controversial real-estate project, and was sentenced to six years. In December Israel's Supreme Court reduced his sentence.

Olmert's attorney Eli Zohar told Army Radio that he would likely "appeal in order to defend the sanctity of the plea bargain."

Former Israeli President Moshe Katsav began a seven-year prison term in 2011 for rape.