Olmert jail sentence elicits bout of schadenfreude from pro-settler group

Olmert, who served as then-prime minister Ariel Sharon’s top deputy in August 2005, is perceived as "one of the architects of the disengagement from Gush Katif."

By JPOST.COM STAFF
An Israeli opponent of Israel's disengagement plan from Gaza mourns before evacuation in the Jewish Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom (photo credit: REUTERS)
An Israeli opponent of Israel's disengagement plan from Gaza mourns before evacuation in the Jewish Gaza Strip settlement of Kfar Darom
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Ehud Olmert’s anticipated incarceration following his conviction on graft and other corruption-related charges is a just fate for one of the planners and champions of the removal of Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip, a right-wing organization said on Monday.
Olmert on Monday was sentenced by the Jerusalem District Court to eight months of jail time on his conviction for fraud under aggravated circumstances in the Talansky retrial. The court also fined Olmert NIS 100,000. 
Olmert lawyers appealed the sentence and the court agreed to their request to hold off the sentence for 45 days for time to appeal.
An NGO which calls itself Hamateh l’hatzalat ha’am v’ha’aretz (which may be translated as “the organization for rescuing the people and the land”) circulated a press release on Monday touting Olmert’s jail sentence as “coming full circle 10 years after the uprooting of Gush Katif.”
Olmert, who served as then-prime minister Ariel Sharon’s top deputy in August 2005, is perceived as “one of the architects of the disengagement from Gush Katif.”
“Ten years after the withdrawal, it has been proven that a hedonistic man who took bribes was also the individual who led the forcible removal of 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gush Katif even though they had done nothing wrong,” the organization said. “For the people of Israel, this [jail sentence] represents closure.”
The group noted “exactly where those who planned and initiated the expulsion of Gush Katif” are today.
“The people of Israel understand today who those individuals who led the disengagement are and how disastrous those results were,” the group said. “Today, it was proven that justice has been served.”