Report: Netanyahu to Dismiss Deri at Sunday’s Cabinet Meeting

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will dismiss Shas chairman Rabbi Aryeh Deri from his position as interior and health minister in Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting following the High Court ruling on Wednesday that disqualified him from serving as a minister, Channel 12 reported on Motzoei Shabbos.

Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara made it clear to Netanyahu on Thursday that he must fire Deri immediately.

Netanyahu met with Rabbi Deri at his house on Wednesday night, sparking rumors about the next steps the coalition could take. Maariv reported that Rabbi Deri may have expressed support for the idea of becoming Knesset Speaker, or that the two discussed the idea that Netanyahu would announce the Shas Chairman’s departure at Sunday’s Cabinet meeting, which would include on the agenda the “health basket” the Health Ministry developed under his lead last Wednesday.

Furthering the new “health basket” was ostensibly the reason that Rabbi Deri wished to attend the meeting, according to Yisrael Hayom.

“I am proud that the additions [to the health basket] we brought this year is the largest ever,” Rabbi Deri wrote on Wednesday. “These drugs will allow the weaker sectors to receive much better and much more advanced medicine.”

It is not clear what will happen once Netanyahu fires Rabbi Deri. While Shas is not expected to leave the government, Rabbi Deri’s removal could affect the coalition’s stability in the near future.

“I must continue with greater courage the social revolution of Shas,” Rabbi Deri wrote following the High Court’s ruling. “For the sake of Jewish identity and concern for the weak. We will do this with strength and upright stature, b’ezrat Hashem.”