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 Olmert is the first former head of government in Israel to go to
prison. During his premiership from 2006 to 2009, he was
internationally credited with working toward a peace accord with the
Palestinians, until graft scandals forced him to step down.
"As prime minister I was charged with the highest responsibility of
safeguarding Israel's citizens. Today I am the one to be locked
behind bars," he said in a video released to media before he pulled
up at Maasiyahu prison in central Israel in a motorcade protected by
bodyguards assigned to former leaders.
"At this time, it is important for me to say once more, as I did in
court and outside it, that I completely deny the bribery charges I
was accused of," Olmert said in the video.
Olmert was assigned to a small wing of the prison, where he will be
segregated for security reasons from the general population along
with co-defendants in the real estate scandal.
 He will wear a prison uniform, have two cellmates and spend his
first day in jail busy with assessment sessions with a social
worker, criminologist - to assess, officials say, whether he is
suicidal.
Olmert was found guilty in 2014 of two bribery charges: accepting
500,000 shekels ($129,000) from developers of a Jerusalem real
estate project widely regarded as one of the city's worst eyesores
and 60,000 shekels ($15,500) in a separate land deal.
He was sentenced to six years in jail, but the term was cut by the
Supreme Court in December to 18 months after it overturned his
conviction on the first bribery charge. Last month, a lower court
tagged a month on to that sentence for obstruction of justice.
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A separate eight-month prison term is pending since Olmert's
conviction last May in another case related to cash payments he was
alleged to have received from an American businessman.
Olmert, 70, is the most prominent of several Israeli politicians to
be jailed in recent years. They include former president Moshe
Katsav, convicted of rape, and present Interior Minister Aryieh
Deri, once imprisoned for corruption.
A lawyer by profession, Olmert began his political career in the
1970s as a lawmaker who targeted organized crime.
As Israel's leader, Olmert waged war against militants in Lebanon in
2006 and the Gaza Strip in 2008. He claimed significant progress in
talks with the Palestinians, offering an Israeli withdrawal from
much of the occupied West Bank, though no agreement was reached.
(Editing by Jeffrey Heller)
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