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| Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu |
Netanyahu Fires Loyalist Dery in Cabinet Meeting Following High Court Ruling
Despite his criminal convictions, Shas leader Arye Dery had been appointed health and interior minister by Netanyahu, but a High Court ruling last week urged the prime minister to remove Dery from ministerial appointments
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his ally Arye Dery "with a heavy heart" from his roles as health and interior minister at a cabinet meeting on Sunday, following a High Court ruling barring the ultra-Orthodox leader from holding these posts.
The High Court's bombshell decision on Wednesday barred the Shas party chair from serving in the cabinet following his criminal conviction on tax evasion charges last year and subsequent suspended sentence.
In a letter read by Netanyahu at the cabinet meeting, he expressed regret over the decision and described Dery as an "anchor of experience, intelligence and responsibility."
"The High Court decision ignores the will of the nation, and I am intending to find every possible legal means to allow you to contribute to the country," the prime minister continued.
Responding to Netanyahu's decision to lay him off, Dery said that "it was clear to both of us that we will respect the court's decision. There was no doubt about it at any stage." Dery added that it was always clear to the prosecution that he "doesn't and hasn't intended to resign from political life. These things were always clear and layed out since the beginning of the negotiations to their end. It was even mentioned by a representative of the High Court during a hearing."
Dery added that he is strongly committed to the 400,000 people who voted for him and for Shas. "No judicial decision will prevent me from serving and representing them," he said.
Dery said he intends to continue leading the Shas movement and participate in coalition meetings to promote the government's planned judicial reform, its sovereignty as well as to help save the country's Jewish identity and to help weaker communities get out of the poverty cycle.
Commenting on the cabinet meeting, Yesh Atid leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid said that while Dery was fired due to corruption charges, Religious Zionism members were absent from the cabinet meeting in protest of the fact that the Defense Minister was acting legally - referring to Yoav Galant's decision to evacuate a West Bank outpost on Friday.
Ten of 11 justices ruled against Dery's appointment, with Justice Yosef Elron the only one holding that the appointment should be conditioned on the Central Election Commission's chairman Chief Justice Solberg's ruling that Dery was not charged with moral turpitude.
In her decision, Supreme Court President Esther Hayut stated that "this is a person who has been convicted three times of offenses throughout his life, and he violated his duty to serve the public loyally and lawfully while serving in senior public positions."
Netanyahu is not entitled to ignore the "accumulation of serious corruption offenses," Hayut continued, adding that: "Having Dery in charge of two of the most important ministries in the government damages the image and reputation of the country's legal system and contradicts principles of ethical conduct and legality."
Despite his conviction, Dery had been appointed health and interior minister by Netanyahu, who formed the current far-right Israeli government in late December.
Following the High Court's ruling Wednesday evening, Dery emerged from his Jerusalem home after back-to-back meetings with Netanyahu and other coalition leaders, telling reporters that "the people will judge [the decision] and see for themselves."
"If they close the door on us, we'll come in through the window. If they close the window, we'll break in through the ceiling," he added.