Cabinet secretary: Lapid and Gantz okayed Deri’s return as part of overhaul talks

Cabinet secretary Yossi Fuchs asserts to the Kan public broadcaster that representatives for the opposition Yesh Atid and National Unity parties agreed to Shas chief Aryeh Deri’s return as a cabinet member, as part of the judicial negotiations at the President’s Residence.

“A complete lie,” says a spokesman for Yesh Atid.

National Unity similarly calls Fuchs’s claim “a pathetic lie.”

“The cabinet secretary should remember he’s a public servant and not a political activist who can spread fake news,” the party says in a statement.

Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman, who has skipped the talks, pats himself on the back after saying earlier this week that Deri’s ministerial comeback was at the heart of an agreement to be unveiled today. No such deal has been announced.

“Just as I said, the only agreement reached at the President’s Residence was to add Aryeh Deri to the government’s ranks,” Liberman tweets.

Deri’s was forced to give up his government posts earlier this year after the High Court of Justice struck down the ultra-Orthodox party leader’s appointment to the cabinet over his past criminal convictions.

In separate remarks to the Ynet news site, Fuchs addresses the effort today to delay the selection of two Knesset members to the Judicial Selection Committee, which he says the coalition wants to replace.

“The widespread opinion in the opposition is that the committee needs to remain as is — frozen,” he charges.