The new Israeli cabinet loses a first member less than a month after being sworn in. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today fired Interior Minister Arjeh Deri. Israel’s top court had previously ordered the dismissal of the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party after he had been convicted of tax fraud last year and promised to withdraw from politics.
This is likely to widen the gap between the country’s highest court and the right-wing coalition under Netanyahu, which has been in office since the end of December.
Netanyahu called the top court’s order regrettable and vowed to use every legal avenue to keep Deri in public office in the future. A source close to Deri told army radio that the vacant post would be filled by a Schas member.
The declared goal of Netanyahu’s coalition government is to limit the powers of the Supreme Court. Netanyahu plans, among other things, that certain sentences can be overturned with a simple parliamentary majority.
