Omri Sharon ( he, עמרי שרון, born 19 August 1964) is a former

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i politician. Sharon served as a member of

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

between 2003 and 2006. In 2006, he was convicted of

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...

and served a prison term. He is the son of former

Israeli Prime Minister The prime minister of Israel ( he, רֹאשׁ הַמֶּמְשָׁלָה, Rosh HaMemshala, Head of the Government, Hebrew acronym: he2, רה״מ; ar, رئيس الحكومة, ''Ra'īs al-Ḥukūma'') is the head of government and chief exe ...

Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon (; ; ; also known by his diminutive Arik, , born Ariel Scheinermann, ; 26 February 1928 – 11 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. S ...

Political career

Elected to the Knesset in 2003, Omri Sharon closely supported his father's positions on many issues, stepping out in his own direction on only one issue - the environment in Israel - in this arena it appeared that the father supported the son. Before long, Omri headed the Environmental Lobby within Knesset - his political term in this position is seen by some as a golden age for the environment in Israel's history. Thanks to powerful intervention from MK Omri and his father PM Ariel Sharon, environmentalists fought off real estate developers and won a battle to develop Mount Hiriya and the surrounding agricultural lands into a sprawling public park slated to be almost three times as large as Central Park in New York. Formerly known as "Park Ayalon", the park has been renamed after the former Prime Minister and is slated to be "Ariel Sharon Park". In 2006, Omri became involved in a scandal relating to fundraising for his father's 1999 Likud leadership campaign. On July 26, 2005, Israeli attorney general

Menachem Mazuz Menachem "Meni" Mazuz ( he, מְנַחֵם "מֶנִי" מָזוּז; born April 30, 1955) is an Israeli jurist and Supreme Court of Israel, Supreme Court justice, who served as the Attorney General of Israel, Israeli Attorney General in the years ...

announced that he would

indict An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of an ...

Omri on charges of

. Omri had

parliamentary immunity Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which politicians such as president, vice president, governor, lieutenant governor, member of parliament, member of legislative assembly, member of legislative council, s ...

at the time, but indicated willingness to stand trial. The Knesset passed a law limiting members' immunity in order to allow the indictment. Omri was formally indicted on August 28, charged with

felonies A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

political corruption Political corruption is the use of powers by government officials or their network contacts for illegitimate private gain. Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism, nepotism, parochialism, patronage, in ...

and with

perjury Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...

. On November 14, Sharon agreed to plead guilty in a plea deal with prosecutors. He resigned from the Knesset on January 3, 2006 and his resignation became effective on January 5. On February 14, 2006 he was sentenced to nine months in prison, a nine-month suspended sentence, and a fine of 300,000

NIS Nis, Niš, NiS or NIS may refer to: Places * Niš, a city in Serbia * Nis, Iran, a village * Ness, Lewis ( gd, Nis, links=no), a village in the Outer Hebrides islands Businesses and organizations * Naftna Industrija Srbije, Petroleum Industry o ...

. The start of his prison term was to be delayed by six months because of his father's health. A nine-month suspended sentence was handed down to Gavriel Manor, Omri Sharon’s associate in the affair. On March 30, 2006, Sharon appealed against a prison sentence to the Tel Aviv District Court. He argued that he had already been punished by resigning from the Knesset. He cited his mother's death as reason for a more lenient sentence and expressed regret for his actions. Sharon's prison term was later reduced to seven months. He reported to

Maasiyahu Prison Maasiyahu Prison is a minimum-security prison in Ramle, Israel, run by the Israel Prison Service. History Prisoners who have proven responsible have access to various places of employment and education programs, the right to take vacations from pr ...

to begin serving his sentence in 2008. He was

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

d after serving five months of his sentence, and remained subject to parole restrictions for the remaining two months. Critics accused Sharon and his father,

, of

nepotism Nepotism is an advantage, privilege, or position that is granted to relatives and friends in an occupation or field. These fields may include but are not limited to, business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, fitness, religion, an ...

, especially when Ariel sent Omri as his unofficial representative for talks with members of the

Palestinian Authority The Palestinian National Authority (PA or PNA; ar, السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية '), commonly known as the Palestinian Authority and officially the State of Palestine,

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharon, Omri 1964 births Living people Ariel Sharon Children of prime ministers of Israel Israeli government officials convicted of crimes Israeli people of Romanian-Jewish descent Israeli politicians convicted of corruption Israeli prisoners and detainees Jewish Israeli politicians Kadima politicians Likud politicians Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Prisoners and detainees of Israel Israeli politicians convicted of crimes

Political career

See also

References

External links