Omri Sharon, son of comatose former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, appeared at a Tel Aviv court Wednesday morning and was escorted to the Maasiyahu jail to begin a seven-month term for fraud in his father's election campaign. Prison officials insisted that he would not receive special privileges, but did not explain why he was allowed to skip the standard unpleasant 48-hour pre-jail examination.

He appealed his nine-month sentence, handed down a year ago, and won a partial reduction, of two months. However, he was denied a request to decrease the term to six months, which would have allowed the possibility of his being placed on parole.