Shas Head Aryeh Deri Removed From Ministerial Posts by Netanyahu on Order of High Court
Aryeh Deri was removed from his positions as minister of health and interior during Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting. Netanyahu called Deri an “anchor of experience, wisdom, and responsibility” due to his “rich experience that contributes to the security and resilience of the State of Israel” as a minister in the governments of Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin. In a letter read at the meeting and later made public, Netanyahu noted that the Supreme Court ordered him to remove Deri from his positions, but added, “I intend to look for any legal way in which you can continue to contribute to the State of Israel from your many experiences and skills, in accordance with the will of the people.” Deri can continue to serve as a Knesset lawmaker. Deri came late to the meeting in order to avoid reporters and sat next to Netanyahu as the prime minister announced the expansion of the “health care basket” for 2023. Meanwhile, the cabinet ministers from Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party boycotted Sunday’s meeting to protest the evacuation on Friday of an illegal outpost in the West Bank. Religious Zionism’s Orit Struck, who serves as national missions minister, said in an interview with the public broadcaster prior to the cabinet meeting that “the basic pillar of our presence in the government is our ability to carry out our policies with respect to civilian life in Judea and Samaria,” the biblical term for the West Bank.
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