Netanyahu fires Shas party chief Arieh Dery following High Court ruling

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Arieh Dery from his positions as health and interior minister on Sunday, following a ruling by the High Court of Justice saying Dery was unfit to serve as minister due to his criminal past. 

“It is with a heavy heart that we are forced to transfer you from your position as a minister in the government. The High Court’s decision is unfortunate and ignores the will of the people,” Netanyahu said.

Dery responded to Netanyahu’s decision, saying: “I hear the sadness in your voice over the court decision and its consequences. My government colleagues and the public should know this. I have no intention, and I never had the intention, and I never committed to withdrawing from political life. This was clearly put on the table from the start of the discussions (on my plea bargain) until their end.”

The court ruled 10-1 last week that Dery’s minister posting was “unreasonable in the extreme” due to his criminal past as well as his promise in a plea deal last year not to return to public life.

In defiance of the court ruling and Netanyhau’s decision to fire Dery, United Torah Judaism said he would “continue to be the (health and interior) minister and that’s how we will relate to him.”

“UTJ will work as much as it can and will be a partner to any move to quickly return him to the government table,” UTJ party leader Yitzhak  Goldknopf said.

Dery has been convicted of criminal offences three times. In 1999 he was sentenced to three years in jail on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Last year, Dery was again indicted, this time on tax offences. His plea deal with the court forced him to resign from Knesset and promise not to return to public life.

“This is a person who has been convicted three times of offenses throughout his life, and he violated his duty to serve the public loyally and lawfully while serving in senior public positions,” Supreme Court President Esther Hayout said.

“Having Dery in charge of two of the most important ministries in the government damages the image and reputation of the country’s legal system and contradicts principles of ethical conduct and legality,” she added.