In the midst of a widening divide over the authority of the courts, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu removed a senior minister from office in accordance with a Supreme Court decision.
At the Cabinet of Israel meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu made the announcement that Aryeh Deri, who held the positions of interior and health minister, had been fired.
Deri was convicted of tax offenses last year, and Israel’s Supreme Court ruled last week that he was unable to be a Cabinet minister as a result.
According to a statement from the prime minister’s office, Netanyahu informed Deri during the Cabinet meeting that he was “forced to transfer you from your post as a minister in the government with a heavy heart, with great grief, and with an exceedingly difficult emotion.”
Following Israel’s November elections, Deri, the head of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas, was named to Netanyahu’s Cabinet last month.
In light of Deri’s 2022 plea agreement conviction for tax fraud, the Supreme Court ordered on Wednesday that the prime minister “must remove Deri from his office.”
Deri’s confidant Barak Seri told Army Radio earlier on Sunday that other Shas members will continue to hold the portfolios as long as Shas remained in the alliance.
Israeli lawmakers passed a measure last month allowing someone convicted of a crime but not sentenced to prison to hold a ministerial position.
A summary of the court’s ruling states that the judges determined Deri’s appointment “could not stand” because it was “very irrational.”
Netanyahu argued on Sunday, however, that the decision, which allows Deri’s Shas party to continue in power, “ignores the will of the people.”
The PM declared that he would work to establish any legal means by which Deri might continue to “give to the state of Israel.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has held office the longest, is committed to reform the court by enacting changes that will limit the Supreme Court’s authority. Additionally, it would give parliament additional authority to choose justices and overturn Supreme Court rulings.
Tens of thousands of Israelis protested the plans in Tel Aviv on Saturday in opposition to the divisive proposed revisions.
The Supreme Court in Israel, which does not have a constitution, now has the power to overturn laws that it deems unfair or discriminatory.
