Ex-Con Shas Party Boss Returns as Israel’s Interior Chief
Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri was approved to serve as Israel’s interior minister more than two decades after resigning from the same position over corruption charges. Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM — Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri was approved to serve as Israel’s interior minister more than two decades after resigning from the same position over corruption charges.
On Sunday, the Cabinet unanimously backed Deri’s appointment to succeed Silvan Shalom, who resigned from the post and the Knesset last month in the wake of sexual misconduct accusations. Deri stepped down several months ago as economy minister.
He quit the interior post in 1993 after being indicted and was sentenced in 2000 to three years in prison; Deri spent nearly two years in jail. Under his conviction for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Deri was barred from public service in the political arena for seven years. He was reinstated as Shas party chairman in 2
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ruled last week that there was no legal reason barring Deri from taking the position.
Deri resigned as economy minister after refusing to sign an anti-trust document that would allow the government’s natural gas deal with a consortium of companies to go through. The deal ultimately was approved.
Shas is part of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government coalition.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
