A former top aide to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was convicted Sunday on charges of soliciting a bribe, fraud and breach of trust for his role in an international arms deal.
The Tel Aviv District Court found that Shimon Sheves committed the misdeeds while acting as a go-between in a deal to sell Israeli weapons to a country that media reports have identified as Taiwan.
In return, Sheves was promised part ownership in a company that was to be established as part of the deal, Judge Edmund Levy wrote in his verdict. Sheves was also supposed to receive part of the profits from the company, Levy wrote.
Sheves, who served as Rabin's chief of staff from 1992-95, insisted he was innocent and said he would appeal.
"I was only found guilty on a small part of the charges," Sheves said. "This is a great mistake." Levy did not find Sheves guilty on other corruption charges that he accepted bribes from Israeli companies in exchange for favors.
Sheves said he would appeal to the Supreme Court against the conviction, but the prosecution said it is considering appealing against his acquittal on the other counts. Sheves faces a maximum punishment of seven years.
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense said it had no knowledge about the reported arms sale between Israel and Taiwan.
A military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said there had not been much military exchange between Taiwan and Israel in recent years, but that Taiwan's military used to buy mainly communications equipment from Israel.
However, Israel had provided Taiwan with highly-sensitive missile technology, which was used in the development of the Hsiung Feng I anti-ship missile.
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