A petition filed with the High Court of Justice by the Movement for Quality Government (MQG) against the appointment of Aryeh Deri as a cabinet minister has been rejected. The three justice panel on Thursday 28 Menachem Av announced the unanimous decision to reject the petition. The court however was far from showering Deri with praise, stating in the decision that the appointment of Deri as a cabinet minister “is complex and not without difficulties and borders on the edge of reasonability”.

Justices Esther Hayut, Chanan Meltzer and Uzi Fogelman rejected the MQG petition which challenged Deri’s appointment to the cabinet because he is a convicted criminal. The MQG lawyers argued that the failure of the prime minister to take Deri’s criminal past into consideration was “extremely unreasonable”. MQG added “the fact that Deri was knowingly, consistently, systematically and deliberately accepted bribes is a disgrace and this justifies removing him from his cabinet post”.

The court nevertheless explained Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu did not veer from the scope of his authority by appointing Deri as a minister.

Justice Hayut stated in her ruling “Regarding the appointment of a candidate convicted of serious crimes to serve the public, we are faced with two major systems that balance considerations between them. On the one hand, must consider the criminal past of the candidate and the seriousness of his actions and on the other hand, one must consider the length of time that has passed since the offense and the end of the sentence as well as into the conduct of the applicant since then. The question to be determined is whether there is the passage of time to dull the sting of the criminal past of so as to enable the candidate to appoint to serve the public”.

Hayut stated that Deri meets the qualifications to be appointed to the cabinet as 13 years have passed since he completed serving his sentence and the hiatus period that followed his jail term during which one cannot serve in public office. She does however feel that this is not the end all, and the central question that remains is if he is suited for the post and if the appointment can stand the test of reasonability.

Justice Hayut adds “We cannot exaggerate the actions of Deri, at least in respect of which is he was convicted under the law. However, the applicant’s criminal record is only one of the consideration which must be considered. Another important consideration to take into account in this regard, as noted, is the elapsed time from the date on which the crimes were carried out and the date on which finished serving his sentence.”

“Truth be told, the necessary balance in this case between the conflicting considerations is complex and not without difficulties. You can even say that the appointment of Deri post of minister borders the edge of reasonability but given all the considerations that we have discussed in detail above, and given the broad discretion by the prime minister on these matters, we found no reason to intervene in it.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)