Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday sacked a senior cabinet member with a criminal record, complying with a Supreme Court ruling he said would pursue judicial reforms that would curb his powers.
Pledging to find “every legal means” to keep Arya Deri from future public office, according to an official transcript, Netanyahu told her during a weekly cabinet session that she was being removed from the interior and health ministries.
A Derry confidante, Barak Seri, told Army Radio earlier on Sunday that the portfolios would be held by other members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish ruling party as it remains in the coalition.
The Supreme Court last week ordered Netanyahu to dismiss Deri, citing his 2022 plea-deal sentence for tax fraud.