Former Deri adviser appointed to head Interior Ministry despite Shas’ resignation from government

The government approves the appointment of Israel Uzan, a former adviser to Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri, as director general of the Interior Ministry in a move widely seen as cementing Shas’ continued control over the ministry even after its exit from the government.

Shas quit the government in June over its failure to advance legislation exempting yeshiva students from military service but remained a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition. According to Kan public broadcaster, the party has been attempting to maintain de facto control over the ministries it headed until recently.

In a report last month, the outlet cited coalition sources as saying that the Shas ministers’ resignations were a sham and that in practice, “everything will stay the same” in the party’s former ministries as they are staffed by Shas-appointed advisers and directors general.

After the rest of his party’s ministers resigned, then-Interior Minister Moshe Arbel temporarily withdrew his own resignation letter so that he could appoint Uzan, who then served as director general of the Labor Ministry.

Speaking with ultra-Orthodox journalist Avraham Friend at the time, a source in United Torah Judaism’s Degel Hatorah faction slammed Shas, accusing it of engaging in “odious maneuvers.”

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri “coordinated a joint withdrawal [from the government] with [our rabbis] and in the end, he secured a place for himself in the cabinet, in committees, and in coalition partnerships,” the source charged.

Last week, the coalition appointed Justice Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) to take over Shas’ interior, religious affairs and labor ministries in an acting capacity. The welfare and health ministries were transferred to Tourism Minister Haim Katz (Likud).

In a statement, Levin praised Uzan, stating that he “brings with him extensive experience in public service.”