Israel Supreme Court Tells Netanyahu He Must Fire Minister

Israel's Interior and Health Minister Aryeh Deri (C) reacts as he sits between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin (L) during a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on January 8, 2023. (AFP)
Israel's Interior and Health Minister Aryeh Deri (C) reacts as he sits between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin (L) during a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on January 8, 2023. (AFP)
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Israel Supreme Court Tells Netanyahu He Must Fire Minister

Israel's Interior and Health Minister Aryeh Deri (C) reacts as he sits between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin (L) during a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on January 8, 2023. (AFP)
Israel's Interior and Health Minister Aryeh Deri (C) reacts as he sits between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and Justice Minister Yariv Levin (L) during a weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, on January 8, 2023. (AFP)

Israel's Supreme Court ordered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to remove a senior minister over a past tax fraud conviction, in a setback for the new right-wing coalition government. 

The 10-to-one ruling on Shas party leader Aryeh Deri looks likely to further stoke tensions between the Cabinet and Israel's Supreme Court over government reform plans which aim to rein in the top court. 

"Most of the judges have determined that this appointment is extremely unreasonable and thus the prime minister must remove Deri from office," said a court summary of the ruling. 

Deri, who holds the interior and health portfolios and is due to become finance minister under a rotation deal, confessed to tax fraud last year in a plea deal that spared him jail time. 

Some of the judges in their ruling also cited Deri having previously told the magistrate's court dealing with his tax case, that he would be retiring from politics. 

There was no immediate response to Wednesday's ruling from Netanyahu, who returned to office in December at the head of a hard-right government. But Justice Minister and fellow Likud party member Yariv Levin said the bench had chosen not to respect the people's choice. 

"I will do whatever is necessary to fully repair this glaring injustice done to rabbi Aryeh Deri, the Shas movement and Israeli democracy," Levin said in a statement. 

Levin's reform would increase the government's sway over judicial appointments while limiting the Supreme Court's power to strike down legislation or rule against executive actions, also by removing "reasonability" as a court standard of review. 

The plan, which the government says is needed to rein in judicial overreach by biased elitist judges, has drawn fury among opponents, who say it would undermine judicial independence and weaken democratic checks and balances that underpin the rule of law. 

Coalition partners, including the ultra-nationalist police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, echoed Levin's remarks calling for the plan, yet to be written into law, to be advanced. It is also backed by Netanyahu, who is on trial on corruption charges he denies. 

Shas, which draws much of its support from religious Jews of Middle Eastern descent, won 11 of the Knesset's 120 seats in a Nov. 1 election. It said the ruling was political. "The court decided today that elections are meaningless." 

Political watchdogs had appealed to the Supreme Court to order Netanyahu to strike down Deri's appointment given his recent conviction as well as past offences. In 1999, he was sentenced to three years in jail for taking bribes. 



Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Says There Is Now a Good Chance to End War

 Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to Ukrainian Muslim service members before sharing an iftar with them, a meal to break their fast at sunset, during the holy month of Ramadan, in a mosque in Kyiv, Ukraine March 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to Ukrainian Muslim service members before sharing an iftar with them, a meal to break their fast at sunset, during the holy month of Ramadan, in a mosque in Kyiv, Ukraine March 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Ukraine’s Zelenskiy Says There Is Now a Good Chance to End War

 Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to Ukrainian Muslim service members before sharing an iftar with them, a meal to break their fast at sunset, during the holy month of Ramadan, in a mosque in Kyiv, Ukraine March 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy speaks to Ukrainian Muslim service members before sharing an iftar with them, a meal to break their fast at sunset, during the holy month of Ramadan, in a mosque in Kyiv, Ukraine March 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Friday that he saw a good chance to end the war with Russia after Ukraine accepted a US proposal for a 30-day interim ceasefire and Moscow said it would only agree if certain conditions were met.

"Right now, we have a good chance to end this war quickly and secure peace. We have solid security understandings with our European partners," Zelenskiy said on X.

"We are now close to the first step in ending any war – silence," he said, referring to a truce.

Speaking to reporters, Zelenskiy urged the US and other allies to apply pressure on Moscow, reiterating his belief that Russian President Vladimir Putin will delay reaching a ceasefire as long as possible.

"If there is a strong response from the United States, they will not let them play around. And if there are steps that Russia is not afraid of, they will delay the process," Zelenskiy told media.

He said that the ceasefire along a more than 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) frontline could be controlled with US help via satellites and intelligence. Washington resumed intelligence sharing and military aid after US and Ukrainian officials met in Saudi Arabia this week and Ukraine accepted the ceasefire.

Zelenskiy also said that officials at that meeting discussed the issue of territory, but a difficult dialog would be required to resolve it.

"The issue of territories is the most difficult after the ceasefire," Zelenskiy said at a media briefing.

With the war is in its fourth year, Russian forces control nearly a fifth of Ukrainian territory and they have steadily advanced in the eastern Donetsk region in recent months.

"The ceasefire unblocks the way for the sides to end the war. And the territories ... will be the point that makes it possible to end the war after this issue is resolved," the Ukrainian president said.

Moscow has demanded that Kyiv permanently cede territory claimed by Russia including Crimea and four other regions, a position Ukraine has rejected.

Zelenskiy said he was discussing with Kyiv's allies future security guarantees and also economic support, adding that 100% air defense cover would be required as deterrence in a peace deal.