Nadene Goldfoot
"Aryeh Makhlouf Deri (Hebrew: אַרְיֵה מַכְלוּף דֶּרְעִי; Arabic: أريه مخلوف درعي), also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959) in Morocco, is an Israeli politician, currently serving as Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Health and Minister of the Interior and Periphery under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He is one of the founders of the Shas political party.
In 1999, Deri was convicted of bribery, fraud and breach of trust; he was given a three-year jail sentence. At the end of 2012, ahead of the elections for the nineteenth Knesset, he returned to lead the Shas party.
Deri was convicted of taking $155,000 in bribes while serving as the interior minister, and was given a three-year jail sentence in 2000. He was replaced by Eli Yishai. Due to good behavior, Deri was released from Maasiyahu Prison in 2002, after serving 22 months.
Over 100,000 people protest against the proposed changes to the justice system in Tel Aviv, on January 21, 2023. (Flash90)
Demonstrators come out in force to oppose overhaul of judicial system;
rallies also held in Jerusalem, Haifa, Beersheba and other towns;
Grossman: ‘Now is the hour of darkness.’ They have turned into huge rallies.
On 20 November 2018, Israeli police ended a criminal investigation into Deri with a recommendation to state prosecutors that he be indicted for "committing fraud, breach of trust, obstructing court proceedings, money laundering, and tax offenses." In 2019, this recommendation was adopted in full by the state prosecutor, Shai Nitzan, but in 2021 the attorney general of Israel, Avichai Mandelblit, dropped all the charges except the tax offenses. Deri continued to serve as Interior Minister, and after losing the ministry with the formation of the thirty-sixth government of Israel, as an MK and chair of the Shas party.
On 2 February 2022, Deri gave a speech in which he accused his prosecution of being motivated by his Moroccan heritage, and expressed his intent to remain as leader of Shas. Deri led the party through the 2022 election, and returned to the Knesset after it won eleven seats. Deri became Minister of Interior, Minister of Health and Vice Prime Minister in the thirty-seventh government of Israel on 29 December 2022. On 18 January 2023, the Supreme Court of Israel ruled that Deri was not allowed to hold a position as a cabinet minister due to his conviction for tax offenses.
As a result, Deri was consensually dismissed from the cabinet on 22 January; his dismissal will go into effect on 24 January which is today.
David Grossman (Hebrew: דויד גרוסמן; born January 25, 1954) in Jerusalem, is an Israeli author. His books have been translated into more than 30 languages. In 2018, he was awarded the Israel Prize for literature. Grossman is an outspoken left-wing peace activist. He has been described by The Economist as epitomising Israel's left-leaning cultural elite.
Revered Israeli author David Grossman addressed the crowd. “The State of Israel was established so that there would be one place in the world where the Jewish person, the Jewish people, would feel at home. But if so many Israelis feel like strangers in their own country, obviously something is going wrong,” he said.
“Now is the hour of darkness. Now is the moment to stand up and cry out: This land is in our souls. What happens in it today, will determine what it will be and who we and our children will become,” Grossman said.
“Because if Israel will become different and far from the hope and vision that created it, God forbid, in a certain sense, it will cease to be,” he warned.
Netanyahu has done what I expected him to do in the first place. "Leader of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas, Deri played a pivotal role in Netanyahu's return to power following Israel's November 1 elections. The premier appointed him health and interior minister last month, but on Wednesday the Supreme Court said Netanyahu "must remove Deri from his position" due to a recent tax evasion conviction. "It is with a heavy heart, with great sorrow and with an extremely difficult feeling that I am forced to transfer you from your position as a minister," Netanyahu told Deri during a cabinet meeting, according to a statement from the premier's office.
In Israel, which does not have a constitution, the Supreme Court currently has the authority to repeal laws it considers discriminatory or unreasonable.
Netanyahu's predecessor Yair Lapid, who attended the demonstration, on Sunday slammed the current government as a "circus".
"Netanyahu... must appoint a full-time health minister and interior minister today," opposition leader Lapid said in a video posted on Twitter.
"The citizens of Israel should not have to pay the price of this government's corruption and disorder," he added.
Throughout the course of his exceptional military career, which culminated tragically in his last battle against terrorists at Entebbe, Jonathan Netanyahu, known to friends and family as "Yoni," became one of modern Israel's greatest heroes.
Netanyahu is having the hardest time of his life, caught between the left and the right. Unfortunately, the right is tarnished with crime-a tax invader, which has muddied up the water for the Orthodox. I wonder what Yoni would a advise? Well, Bibi already made his decision to let Aryeh go. Now he needs Yoni's help.
Resource:
https://www.timesofisrael.com/over-100000-estimated-to-gather-in-tel-aviv-for-largest-anti-government-protest-yet/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryeh_Deri
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230122-israel-pm-removes-top-minister-over-court-ruling
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