Israel: Netanyahu fires senior cabinet minister over 'criminal record'

Jerusalem: Despite pursuing contentious judicial reforms that would limit the Supreme Court’s authority, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday fired a senior cabinet member with a criminal history in accordance with the court’s directive.

During the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu informed Aryeh Deri he was being fired from the interior and health ministries.

According to an official transcript, Netanyahu pledged to use “all legal means” to maintain Deri in public office in the future.

Deri confidant, Barak Seri spoke to Army Radio earlier on Sunday that the portfolios would be held by other Shas members as long as the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party is still a part of the government.

Last Monday, the Supreme Court ruled that Netanyahu must fire Deri due to his 2022 tax fraud conviction obtained in a plea agreement.

This decision sparked a contentious debate in Israel over reform measures that Netanyahu claims will restore the balance between the executive and legislative arms of government but that detractors claim will erode judicial independence. The debate was accompanied by widespread protests.

Netanyahu referred to the Deri decision as “regrettable” and “indifferent to the people will” in his cabinet statement.

A far-right partner boycotted the cabinet meeting on Friday in protest of the destruction of a small settler outpost that had been built in the occupied West Bank, which caused the religious-nationalist coalition that had only emerged a little over a month ago, to stumble in another area.

Yoav Galant, the Israeli defence minister and a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, ordered the outpost demolished because it lacked a building permission, overruling the Religious Zionist party’s objections and its attempts to postpone the decision.

Bezalel Smotrich, the head of Religious Zionism and a coalition partner with Netanyahu who oversees some ministerial duties for West Bank settlements, was positioned against Galant in the incident.

According to Israel’s Kan radio, Orit Strock, National Missions Minister of Religious Zionism, “this (settlements) is a big problem for our participation in the administration.” She made the decision to withhold additional information concerning possible future actions.

Jewish Power, a member of the far-right coalition and an ally of Religious Zionism, declared it would demand Israel carry out the long-delayed evacuation of Khan al-Ahmar, a Bedouin Palestinian settlement in a crucial West Bank region close to Jerusalem.

In order to avoid dealing yet another setback to efforts to negotiate the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, world powers have urged Israel not to destroy Khan al-Ahmar. The majority of nations consider
Israel’s West Bank settlements to be illegal.

(With inputs from agencies)

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