*Ex-Israeli chief rabbi sentenced
 

OCCUPIED-AL-QUDS: Former Israeli chief rabbi Yona Metzger, convicted of taking more than $1.9 million in bribes, fraud and obstructing justice, was sentenced on Thursday to serve four-and-a-half years in jail, court officials said.

A Jerusalem court rejected a plea bargain under which the ex-chief rabbi of the Ashkenazi branch of Judaism would have been imprisoned for three-and-a-half years and fined $1.3 million.

Metzger had initially been charged with an array of felonies including taking bribes, fraud, money laundering and witness tampering.

He stepped down in July 2013 after 10 years in ******.

Israel has two chief rabbis, one Ashkenazi and the other Sephardi, whose responsibilities include running rabbinical courts and regulating the food supervision industry.

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