Supreme Court disqualifies Deri from Israel’s government
The Israeli Supreme Court disqualified Aryeh Deri from participating in the government, setting the stage for a political crisis that could potentially topple Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition.
Health Minister Aryeh Deri at a media event in Tel Aviv on Jan. 18, 2023. Photo by Gideon Markowicz/TPS
Deri currently holds the dual roles of Minister of Interior and Health. He is also Vice Prime Minister and sits on the influential Security Cabinet.
Deri’s legal issues stem from a January 2022 plea agreement in which he admitted to underreporting the value of property sold to his brother to avoid paying a land tax. He also admitted failing to report income from the sales and evading a tax on 534,000 shekels (A$218,970) of income by funnelling payments from an investment fund to his brother.
As part of the plea agreement, Deri was given a suspended prison sentence and paid a fine of 180,000 shekels (A$74,650).
Unresolved, however, was whether Deri’s plea agreement carried “moral turpitude,” a legal term loosely described as immoral, unethical behaviour which gravely violates a community’s standards. In Israel, convictions carrying moral turpitude prohibit a person from running for public office for seven years. Judges have a certain discretion to decide whether individual cases carry moral turpitude, but a prison sentence almost always draws a label of moral turpitude by law.
Also unresolved was how long a hiatus from politics Deri would take.
When the Center-Left government headed by then-Prime Minister Yair Lapid collapsed in June, Deri returned to the campaign trail. Voters responded, giving Shas 11 seats in the 120-seat Knesset, and with it, significant leverage in negotiations with Netanyahu in coalition negotiations.
As a precondition of joining the government, Shas insisted on — and ultimately got passed — legislation known as “the Deri Law” stating that moral turpitude does not apply to a suspended sentence.
What Next?
Shas has 11 Knesset seats, making it Likud’s largest coalition partner. The right-wing coalition currently has 64 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
A statement issued by Shas called the ruling “a severe and stinging injury to all Shas voters and supporters.” The statement added that the next steps will be decided on by the party’s rabbinical leadership council.
Party officials signalled in recent days that they will quit the coalition if Deri cannot be in the government. On Tuesday, Welfare and Social Affairs Minister Yaacov Margi insisted that Deri would not resign if found unfit by the High Court. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not commented on whether he is prepared to fire Deri in that scenario.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid called on Netanyahu to fire Deri, saying, “If Aryeh Deri is not fired, the Israeli government is breaking the law. A government that does not obey the law is an illegal government.”
The Movement for Quality Government, which filed the original petition against Deri, also called on Netanyahu to fire Deri, saying the government “is not a rehabilitation facility for criminals,”
Deri was previously convicted in 2000 of accepting bribes while serving as Interior Minister. Due to good behaviour, he served 22 months of a three-year sentence, leaving prison in 2002. Deri returned to the Knesset in 2013.
Deri has been convicted of accepting bribes while in office. This alone should have prevented him from returning to the Knesset in 2013. There is no way he should be a minister in the newly elected government.
Criticising the Supreme Court decision for interfering in politics, as so many are – wanting to change the judiciary laws to strengthen the power of government – is dangerous thinking. Governance and judiciary should play their own distinctive and singular roles, with the courts being there for ruling against government if necessary (as in this case). Without that, democracy is eroded and the risk of all-powerful, totalitarian government increased.
Ben Gvir is another one who should not be allowed office.
this will show whether it is a Gov. of law or Gov of Gangs.
Why are convicted criminals allowed to stand for Parliament in the first place?