Mr Deri was found guilty of accepting $170,000 in bribes which were used to pay for foreign trips and properties in Jerusalem.

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He was also convicted of using state funds to bail out religious institutions and business activities, which he controlled.

Mr Deri, the leader of Shas, Israel's third largest political party, said he believed the Jerusalem district court verdict was "mistaken".

"I have asked that the sentence be pronounced within the 45-day deadline to enable the appeal process to get underway as soon as possible," he said.

Political repercussions

If the conviction is upheld, Mr Deri will be ineligible to serve as a minister for 10 years.

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The charges could result in a prison sentence although he has been acquitted of other charges.

The verdict in Israel's longest running political scandal could also have a decisive impact on May's general election.

He is idolised by the Sephardim, ultra-religious Jews of Middle Eastern and North African origin, who regard the trial as politically motivated.

Arieh Gamliel, Shas deputy minister for religious affairs, reacted to the verdict saying: "This is a black day for Israel."

Death threats

The verdicts were contained in a 917-page report read out by Judge Yaacov Zemach, and broadcast live on Israeli television and radio.

Some supporters were predicting violent protests if he was convicted.

Court officials say two of the three judges, who heard the case, have received death threats.

But the BBC's Middle East Correspondent, Paul Adams, said Mr Deri's supporters outside court believed the verdicts could help, rather than destroy, his political future.

He said Mr Deri's supporters believe the result will help attract disaffected Sephardim voters to his Shas party in time for May's general election.

Discrimination in the establishment

The case has been the subject of intense media and public interest.

In reaching its verdict, the court heard 147 witnesses and amassed 41,000 pages of evidence.

Israel was gripped by the trial's social, religious and political implications, rather than the legal facts.

Mr Deri's devoted supporters, religious Jews from Israel's Sephardim minority, accused the largely secular Ashkenazi establishment of discrimination.