Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the appointment of a politician convicted of tax fraud as a senior minister in Benjamin Netanyahu’s new Right-wing coalition, a move likely to accelerate a looming showdown between the government and the judiciary over control of the country’s highest court.
Ten of the 11 judges on the panel ruled against the appointment of the minister, Aryeh Deri, a close Netanyahu ally, on grounds of “extreme unreasonability”, primarily because of his recent conviction and suspended prison sentence, and said the Prime Minister should remove him from his posts.
The decision comes as Netanyahu and the judiciary are locked in a battle over the Supreme Court, with the Prime Minister and his coalition partners seeking to assert more control over legal matters, including the appointment of judges.
Those efforts have prompted street protests in cities across Israel in recent weeks, with many Israelis fearing that the judicial changes could undermine the country’s democratic institutions. Netanyahu now has to decide if he will respect the court ruling or defy it and head a government that opposition leaders said would be “illegal”.
An initial statement of support for Deri issued by the government appeared ambiguous regarding the next steps, but it suggested that the coalition wanted to find a way to keep the minister in office.
Praising his “extraordinary abilities and vast experience” and denouncing the “severe personal injustice” of the verdict, the statement said Deri would continue to play “a central and significant role”, without elaborating.
“We will act in any legal way that is available to us and without delay to correct the injustice and the severe damage caused to the democratic decision and the sovereignty of the people,” the statement added.
Deri, the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, was appointed to the powerful positions of interior minister and health minister in the government that was sworn in barely three weeks ago. It is the most far-Right ruling coalition in Israel’s history.