The real name of “Deri’s law” is “Bibi’s law”. This is an experimental balloon. If the stinker is successful, it will be adopted by the primary client: Benjamin Netanyahu. While his poison machine continues to pump out a false narrative according to which “Netanyahu’s files are collapsing”, the accused himself will pursue a plea deal in which he will plead guilty to reduced charges and be sentenced to a suspended sentence.
The legal advice to the Knesset: “The Deri law causes difficulties, but it is not an extreme case”
An achievement for the emerging coalition: the Deri and Ben Gabir bills were passed in preliminary reading
Since the Deri/Bibi law states that a suspended sentence does not include defamation, Netanyahu will be able to continue as usual. The test balloon will become a hot air balloon that will escape Netanyahu from the threat of judgment. At this stage he will suddenly discover that his dependence on friends Deri, Gafni, Goldknopf, Ben Gabir and Smotrich has disappeared. They will find out too late.
And for news in detail: The scandal was supposed to prevent Aryeh Deri from returning to the government and the Knesset. He served seven years in prison the first time, after being convicted of bribery. once was enough for him. The problem is that he was recently convicted again, of tax offenses. He was sentenced to probation. What needs to be done in order to cement it out of its rut, is to add one word to the “government” basic law.
the word “actually”. Once it is added, it will be clear that only those sentenced to actual imprisonment will bear the stigma. Sentenced to probation will be exempt. After all, this is a genius method: it will take Deri’s stigma and spread it on all of us. Everyone who was involved in this rotten act of legislation, from the senior legislators in the Knesset to the junior citizens in the country. We will all have to live with the fact that a convicted serial felon beeps the system and returns, time after time, to the scene of the crime.
It is hard to believe that this event is actually happening. For those who have forgotten: Deri was convicted of bribery, sentenced to actual imprisonment, served his sentence, was released, returned to the scene of the crime and was convicted once again, of tax offenses. But in between, he managed to become the one in whose hands the fate of another defendant, Binyamin Netanyahu, is. Disgrace falls on disgrace. The Knesset of Israel is now cleaning up Deri’s stigma so that it can help Netanyahu get rid of his stigma.
On the occasion of the occasion, Deri will receive two cases: the interior case, which will be transferred to Tabu in his name, and the health case as a special bonus. A case for every conviction. There may also be a “deputy prime minister”. Why not, actually? He has already been convicted twice, Netanyahu has not been convicted even once (and enjoys the presumption of innocence). At the rate of our deterioration, a conviction will soon be required as a threshold condition for receiving a government case.
For those who had time to forget: Judge Shmuel Herbst, who sentenced Deri not long ago, said these amazing things during the sentencing: “The defendant, a public figure for many years, now voluntarily withdraws from dealing with public needs… His life history shows that he saw Being an elected official with a vocation and a way of life, and now in view of the current case and its charges – he waives that, and this of his own free will. It is not an easy victim for someone who has positioned himself as a public messenger in recent decades and it seems that the accuser herself is hinting that she sees this as part of the punishment that the accused imposed on himself.”
Judge Herbst continues: “Anyone who is afraid of the accused and his damage to the public treasury and claims that there is a danger in him in everything related to his business and his status in the affairs of the public or individual funds – can find rest for this fear and say with certainty that the accused will no longer touch the needs of the public that involve financial pursuits, and this is due to his distancing himself from the scene the public”.
Is there anyone who believes that the judge, who approved the plea deal with Deri, assumed that all this speech would fade away in a few months and after less than a year the convicted person would appear, as if nothing, in the navel of the Israeli government, holding two major cases and receiving direct control over the budget of the Ministry of Health, while bypassing the treasury?
And here is what the prosecutor said at the Deri trial, at the same time: “Aside from these, I would like to present to my audience considerations that justify a punishment that does not contain a prison component, first and foremost the defendant’s confession and taking responsibility for his actions. In this context, the defendant’s public statement and withdrawal from his political life reflect that his mouth and heart are equal” .
For those who didn’t understand: the state, meaning us, agreed to drop a prison sentence for Derai mainly out of the understanding that he is retiring from political life and that “his mouth and heart are equal”. For those who have forgotten, a few days after he “retired from public life”, the same Deri appeared again in the Knesset, took over a room next to the Shas faction and was appointed a special advisor to the faction. He remained the chairman of the Shas, ran for its leadership in the Knesset and is now about to become the most powerful man in the government This is a stinking trick, compared to which Shimon Peres’ smelly exercise is a yoga class at some spiritual observatory in the Galilee.
Deri’s story is a great test of the legal system, justice and law enforcement in Israel. Is she deterred, paralyzed by terror, scared and ready to fall, or does she still stand her ground and intend to defend the most basic values of democracy? Petitions will be submitted to the High Court against Deri’s law. I estimate that they will be submitted both against the act of legislation itself and against the plausibility of appointing someone who has been convicted twice to a ministerial position in the government.
The High Court of Justice could invalidate Deri’s appointment on the grounds of reasonableness. There is no need to interfere with the act of legislation itself, since it is a basic law, but it is possible and desirable to interfere with the actual appointment. If there is an extreme lack of reasonableness in the world, then it is fully embodied in the case of Deri’s appointment. Because the superseding clause It has not yet been enacted and it is not clear if it will be enacted, the High Court of Justice can intervene, have its say and mark a clear red line on the feeding course of the Israeli public, which goes on without disturbing our eyes.
This would be a clear statement meaning “so far”. After all, just a year ago, a false representation was presented to the public, the court and the prosecution system according to which Deri was ruling himself out of retirement. The judge almost cried with excitement. The prosecutor expressed satisfaction with the defendant’s taking responsibility. In view of all this, the High Court has all the tools and justifications in the world to intervene.
For a change, in addition to all this, there is another element here: public trust. All the polls conducted since the elections prove that the public opposes the Deri law. The action of the High Court of Justice will be both just, correct and popular and will enjoy overwhelming public support, including among Likud voters.
The High Court will not have a more appropriate opportunity to illustrate the importance of its existence. And what will happen if the new coalition rushes to pass a superseding clause during Bezeq in order to prevail over the High Court? I don’t know what will happen. I do know that it will tear, once and for all, the mask from the faces of those who do the work. The rule of law is not in the forefront of their minds, nor is a balance between the authorities in front of their eyes. Everything is personal. Everything is focused on Derai and Bibi. They said from now on, derby.
Ben Caspit’s full column in “Maariv Sophashavu”