The Supreme Court invalidated Wednesday the appointment of the Minister of the Interior and Health, Arié Déri, found guilty of tax fraud.
MO12345LEMONDE With AFP
The Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu dismissed his duties on Sunday, January 22, the Minister of the Interior and Health and number two of the government, Arié Déri, following a court decision. On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had invalidated the appointment of Mr. Déri, found guilty of tax fraud in 2021.
“It is with a heavy heart and a lot of pain (…) that we are forced to get up from your post to the government,” said Mr. Netanyahu in the weekly meeting of the cabinet in Jerusalem in the presence of Mr. Der. The Prime Minister added that the judgment of the Supreme Court “ignores the will of the people” and that they will endeavor to find any legal means so that Mr. Déri can “contribute to the service of the State of Israel”. /p>
leader of the Shass Ultraorthodox Party, Mr. Déri was Minister of the Interior and Health as part of a complex coalition agreement concluded in December 2022 following the Israeli legislative elections of 1 ER November.
indicted for corruption
The Supreme Court, the highest legal body in the country, announced in a statement Wednesday, January 18, that it had decided by a majority of ten judges out of eleven “that the appointment of the deputy arié deri to the post of Minister of the Interior and health cannot be validated “. “The Prime Minister must dismiss him,” she added, recalling that Mr. Déri had announced in early 2022 that he withdrew from political life after his conviction for tax fraud. This withdrawal was even a condition set by justice to avoid prison.
m. DIE had however presented itself in the legislative elections of November (he was elected), then had been appointed to the government set up at the end of December by Mr. Netanyahu, with his ultraorthodox and extreme right allies.
At the end of December 2022, the deputies voted in a hurry a text, baptized “law derived” by the press, authorizing a person found guilty of a crime, but not condemned to a prison sentence, to obtain a ministerial portfolio. The objective of this text is to allow Mr. Derge to sit within the new executive.
In their expectations, the judges of the Supreme Court criticized the “derier law”, without however invalidating it, and estimated that the appointment of Mr. derier to government was “in serious contradiction with the fundamental principles of the rule of law “.
The Shass Shass Ultraorthodox Party is the second formation of the government coalition. Tutelary figure of Shass, a party accustomed to doing and undo the coalitions since the 1980s, Mr. Déri has been minister in many governments.
In 1993, the Supreme Court had already demanded that it be dismissed when it was Minister of the Interior, after being indicted for corruption. In 2000, he had been sentenced to three years in prison and released after having served two thirds of his sentence.