Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday disqualified a top coalition member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government from serving as minister. In a 10-1 ruling, the court said the appointment of Aryeh Deri as a minister in the new coalition government was “grossly unreasonable.”
Deri is the leader of the Shas party, a religious party made up mostly of Sephardic Jews. Shas has the second most seats in Netanyahu’s coalition government with 11, and if they were to leave the government, Israelis would probably have to go to the polls again.
Deri currently serves as the health and home affairs minister and will later split his term and become the all-powerful finance minister in the second half of Netanyahu’s government. He also serves as the deputy prime minister.
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Benjamin Netanyahu, left, and Aryeh Deri
(Hillel Maeir/TPS/File)
In 2000, Deri served 22 months in prison for taking bribes. In January 2022, he resigned from the Israeli Parliament following a plea deal on different fraud charges. The deal was criticized by many in the Israeli public, claiming that it let Deri out too easily and paved the way for her swift return to politics despite the alleged misdeeds and her vow to retire from politics.
It is now up to Netanyahu to decide whether to honor the court’s ruling and remove him from office or keep his appointment.
Two weeks ago, in his response to petitions filed against Deri’s service, Netanyahu said “there is no way to achieve government stability without his appointment,” calling Deri “an anchor of experience, wisdom and responsibility.” Netanyahu reportedly visited Deri on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the matter.
Deri’s party issued a statement accusing the court of denying Shas’ 400,000 voters: “Today, the court effectively ruled that the elections are meaningless. The court’s decision is political and tainted with extreme irrationality.”
Netanyahu’s coalition parties issued a joint statement shortly after the verdict, calling it “shocking and painful.”
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Supreme Court of Israel in Jerusalem.
(Hillel Maier/TPS/File)
The statement noted: “Beyond the grave personal injustice caused to Minister Deri himself, the verdict is a great injustice to the more than two million citizens, the majority of the people, who voted for a government led by Benjamin Netanyahu in the that Aryeh Deri play a central and significant role”.
He continued: “We will act in any legal way within our power and without delay to correct the injustice and severe damage caused to the democratic decision and sovereignty of the people.”
Israel’s welfare minister Yaakov Margi of Shas earlier warned on Kan Radio on Wednesday that if the court disqualified Deri, Netanyahu “understands that there will be no government. We have said that there is no reason for Aryeh Deri not to serve as minister.” chief in Israel.” .”
The ruling could jeopardize Netanyahu’s new coalition, as it has shortened the timeline of Israel’s looming constitutional crisis and potentially plunged his coalition into chaos. Some of his coalition partners have already called on him to ignore the ruling.
aryeh deri
(Gideon Marcowicz/TPS/File)
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The Movement for Quality Government in Israel and the other petitioners in the appeal welcomed the court’s decision and called on Netanyahu to respect the ruling and fire Deri.
“This is a significant victory in upholding the rule of law and the success of the entire Israeli public,” they said in a statement.
The court’s decision comes as Israel’s Justice Minister Yariv Levin laid out his plan to reform Israel’s judicial system that would limit the court’s power of judicial review of legislation, allowing the Knesset to re-legislate laws if the court overrides them, and would give the government full control over judicial appointments.
Israeli protesters demonstrate against the new government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv on January 14, 2023. (Gili Yaari/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In the past two weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to protest Netanyahu’s new government and his plan to reform the judicial system. Another massive demonstration is scheduled for Saturday.
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The TPS news agency reported that Israel’s opposition leader Yair Lapid demanded that Netanyahu follow the court’s ruling and let Deri go, saying: “If Aryeh Deri is not fired, the Israeli government is breaking the law. A government that does not obey the law. It’s an illegal government.”
This is not the first time that the court has made an Israeli prime minister fire one of his coalition members. In 1993, he called on the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to fire Aryeh Deri himself after he was first indicted.
Yonat Friling is a Senior Producer for Middle East Fox News. You can follow her at @FrilingYonat
