Justice who previously approved Deri’s return as minister says he wouldn’t do so today

Former Supreme Court justice Yoram Danziger — one of the judges who previously cleared Shas leader Aryeh Deri to become a minister following his conviction — says he would not do so again in the current situation.

“Today, we’re in a different situation, we’re in a situation in which MK Deri committed yet another crime — not years ago, but much more recently,” Danziger tells Channel 12 news in an interview.

Deri was convicted of bribery and sentenced to prison in the late 1990s. In 2013, he returned to the Knesset and in 2015 became a minister, with Danziger and other Supreme Court justices rejecting a petition seeking to bar him from the roll.

Early this year, Deri agreed to a plea deal on unrelated tax offenses, resigning from the Knesset as part of the deal, but today is poised to return as a minister, after the incoming coalition passes legislation allowing such a move.

Today, Danziger says, he would not support Deri returning to become a minister, particularly after he “made statements that he is leaving political life” as part of the plea deal, the retired justice says.

Legislation paving the way for Deri’s return is “not right and not good.”