Amid protests, bill paving Deri’s way back to cabinet passes committee

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Israeli media
27 Mar 2023 04:03

The bill, known as the Deri Law 2, is widely seen as designed to comfort Deri who was removed in January from office.

Shas leader Aryeh Deri (Reuters)

An Israeli Knesset spokesperson said a bill that would restrain the Israeli Supreme Court's decision to annul the appointment of Shas leader Aryeh Deri as a cabinet minister is headed back to the parliament for its final two votes, Israeli media reported.

The media said that the bill, known as the Deri Law 2, passed a committee vote 8-6 after a long debate over the legislation, which is part of the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul.

According to The Times of "Israel", the bill is widely seen as designed to comfort Deri, a convicted politician who was removed in January from office as an Interior and Health minister by Netanyahu following a Supreme Court ruling against his appointment.

The Supreme court had announced that Deri cannot serve as minister due to a recent tax evasion conviction and a plea bargain forcing him to resign from political life last year, ruling that Netanyahu "must remove Deri from his position."

"I intend to seek any legal way whereby you can continue to contribute" to "Israel", Netanyahu told the Shas party leader back then.

Last year, Deri was fined $50,000 and relinquished his parliamentary seat but ran for office again in the November polls.

He was appointed Health and Interior Minister last month as part of a coalition deal following "Israel's" November 1 elections after lawmakers passed legislation allowing anyone convicted of offenses but not given a custodial sentence to serve as a minister.

It is noteworthy that Deri had held several ministerial posts during his decades-long career, including after a seven-year ban following prison time for taking bribes.

This comes as Israeli media reported on Sunday that thousands of Israeli settlers took to the streets to protest the government's planned "judicial overhaul" that would undermine the role of the Israeli occupation Supreme Court and Netanyahu's decision to dismiss Security Minister Yoav Gallant.

Protests in Central Tel Aviv pic.twitter.com/yveHG9ctgr
— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) March 26, 2023

Attorney General says petitions against Netanyahu no longer relevant

In a related context, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara has told the Israeli occupation Supreme Court that she opposes petitions filed against Netanyahu and herself to instruct the PM to recuse himself from office.

Last month, several petitions requested that the Supreme Court issue such an order due to a potential conflict of interest created by Netanyahu overseeing his coalition's bid to remodel the judiciary while himself on trial for multiple corruption charges.

Netanyahu is facing bribery, fraud, and breach of trust allegations in three distinct investigations for allegedly accepting costly gifts from donors and seeking to make secret arrangements with media corporations for more favorable coverage.

However, the Knesset last week passed into law a bill that would shield Netanyahu from a court decision to disqualify him, with 61 Knesset members voting in favor and 47 against.

The legislation prohibits the Israeli occupation Supreme Court from ordering a prime minister to take a leave of absence.

According to the new legislation, only a three-quarters majority vote of government ministers or MKs may force a premier to take a temporary leave, and only for mental or physical health grounds.

On Sunday, Baharav-Miara told the court in a filing that the petitions are no longer relevant in light of the new legislation.