Deri says his firing from government is not a threat to the coalition

Shas chief Aryeh Deri — who was fired this week as a government minister following a High Court ruling — says his removal from office is not a threat to the current government.

Deri gave interviews with Channels 11, 12 and 13 which all air this evening, his first media appearances since he was fired.

Speaking to Channel 12, Deri says that Shas has no intention to leave the government, since the government has “an enormous goal” to preserve its Jewish identity and help its weakest citizens.

Deri says Shas Welfare Minister Ya’akov Margi’s threat to bring down the government over Deri’s firing was said “out of the pain in his heart.”

The Shas chief also says that there was “no logic in the world” to think that the High Court could use his tax offense plea deal to declare him unfit to serve as a minister.

Deri vows to return to become a minister once the Knesset legislates new laws to do so, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and coalition officials have vowed. “It will happen… if it takes two weeks or a month or two months,” he says.

Asked what would happen if the High Court strikes down such a law, Deri says: “I don’t know.”