The Chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Yitzhak Amit, this morning (Wed) rejected the request of the Movement for the Quality of Government to determine a defamation against Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri in a way that would prevent him from serving as minister, but left an opening in his decision to prevent him from serving in the future.
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Judge Amit wrote that “only at the stage when those involved in the profession are on the question of appointing so-and-so to the position of minister in the government of Israel, and that so-and-so should be considered a ‘candidate to be a minister’, or then an application can be submitted in his case.” That is, at this stage, it is not yet time to determine a defamation against Deri, but the possibility remains open for the date of his appointment to a ministerial position in the future.
Judge Amit also wrote in Section 6 of his decision that “the Constitution established a kind of ‘presumption of dishonor’, according to which a person who was convicted and sentenced to a prison sentence according to the conditions listed in the Basic Law, will not be qualified to serve as a minister in the Israeli government, unless the chairman of the Central Election Commission has determined that There is no defamation in the offense for which that person was convicted.” That is, as much as Binyamin Netanyahu or one of the other candidates for Prime Minister wants to appoint Deri as minister – a decision by the chairman of the election committee will be required to determine that he has no disgrace in order to allow him to be appointed.
If Netanyahu does form the next government, he may find himself without his central and main partner for the past decade at his side at the government table. This possibility remains open in the decision of the Chairman of the Election Commission following the petition of the Movement for the Quality of Government. Although the request was rejected outright, Judge Amit points out in his decision that the request, which is “completely theoretical at this stage”, will be relevant when the person who returns and addresses him on the issue will be “only a head The government or a member of the Knesset who was tasked with forming the government.”
“An impressive decision”
In the request of the movement for the quality of government, it is stated that “Deri should be defamed due to the 12-month suspended prison sentence he was sentenced to on February 1, 2022. The movement stated in its request that Deri returned and declared that he can serve as a minister in the government, and has no legal impediment – and all while seriously harming in the voting public. So that the freedom of voting is not harmed, and all the information is exposed to the voters – the movement believes that the chairman of the committee should use his authority and determine at this stage what the competence is in Deri’s case, and whether the presumption of defamation applies to him.”
After Judge Amit rejected her request, the Movement for the Quality of Government welcomed his decision despite this and said that it was “an impressive decision by Judge Amit, who actually adopted our position and stated that Deri is ‘held in disgrace’. If Deri wants to serve as a minister, he or whoever asks to form a government will be forced submit an appropriate request to remove the stigma. It is good that Amit clarified the legal situation for the benefit of the electorate, so that they know – a person convicted of crimes cannot serve as a kosher minister in Israel.”