JERUSALEM (JTA) — Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert can delay the start of his prison term in the Talansky Affair pending his appeal, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled.

The court issued its ruling on Wednesday, and the state prosecutor agreed to the stay. Olmert had requested the stay from the court last week.

He has been sentenced to an eight-month term for his conviction for accepting cash-filled envelopes from an American-Jewish businessman, Morris Talansky, and using it for personal and not political expenses. Olmert is the first Israeli prime minister to be sentenced to prison.

Olmert also is in the midst of an appeal of his conviction for accepting bribes in the Holyland Affair, for which he was fined and sentenced to six years in prison. In that case, the Supreme Court also ruled that he could delay the start of his prison sentence pending all appeals.

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