The appointment of Aryeh Deri, leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, the second most incumbent party in the ruling coalition, was rejected by the Supreme Court because he was convicted of tax fraud last year.
A day after the massive demonstrations that brought together more than 100,000 people the day before in Tel Aviv to protest against Benjamin Netanyahu’s executive power, the Israeli Prime Minister announced this Sunday the sudden resignation of its head of Interior and Health, Aryeh Deri. . The president thus meets the request of the Supreme Court, which confirmed on Wednesday that the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, the second formation with the most seats in the ruling coalition, cannot hold a ministerial post after being convicted of tax fraud last year. .
Netanyahu personally announced Deri’s resignation at the cabinet meeting this Sunday. “I do it with great sadness and great regret,” the prime minister said in comments collected by the Times of Israel. Deri’s resignation will take effect in the coming hours, while the president, aware of Shas’ weight in his far-right governing coalition, has pledged to find a “legal way” for him to “continue serving the State of Israel.”
According to Deri’s office, this solution will consist of keeping Deri in his third position as deputy prime minister, which is not exactly a ministerial portfolio and could allow the ultra-Orthodox to attend the Council of Ministers as an observer.
Restricted to describing the executive branch as “a circus”, Israeli opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid recalled that this Sunday’s council of ministers was also boycotted by the far-right Religious Zionist party, also an ally of Israel. the coalition. from Netanyahu. The boycott follows the clash that took place this week between party leader and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich and defense chief Yoav Gallant after the latter ordered the eviction of five families of settlers who had built an illegal settlement. the West Bank to commemorate the spiritual leader of the formation.
“We have a government that fires a minister for corruption and where the ministers of another party declare a boycott because another party is following the law,” Lapid said. “People shouldn’t have to pay for this government’s alienation,” he added.
According to the Supreme Court ruling, Deri, a key ally of Netanyahu, cannot hold elected office because of a tax fraud sentence that was suspended after a deal with the prosecution, according to the Israeli newspaper ‘Haaretz’. Despite this, Netanyahu’s Likud and Shas agreed to his appointment as one of the conditions for the prime minister to gain the crucial support of Shas’s party, including a commitment to amend existing legislation to remove potential impediments.
This amendment, known as the “Deri Law,” was passed to change the Basic Law, barring those on probation from holding ministerial posts. Deri was charged with fraud and signed an agreement for a suspended sentence and payment of a fine. Following this, a complaint was filed in court arguing that Deri cannot hold elected office and protesting the constitutionality of the amendments to the Basic Law. The Supreme Court ruling resulted in 10 votes to 1 against disqualifying the Shas leader.
Source: La Verdad
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