JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a key member of the country’s new government cannot serve as a Cabinet minister.
The move deepens a rift over the power of the courts in Israel and presents Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with what could be his first coalition crisis.
The high court ruled that Aryeh Deri, the influential head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party who has served repeatedly in Netanyahu’s previous governments, is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offenses and placed on probation as part of a plea deal.
The much-anticipated ruling comes as Israel is being roiled by a dispute over sweeping changes to the country’s legal system, which critics say will place too much power in the hands of the government and weaken the Supreme Court. Proponents say it will correct a power imbalance between the executive and judicial branches.
Israeli Supreme Court says minister barred over tax offenses
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Israeli Supreme Court says minister barred over tax offenses
- The high court ruled that Aryeh Deri is disqualified from serving as a minister after he was convicted last year for tax offenses
Israeli forces demolish Palestinian house near Salfit
- The house, which was under construction, belonged to Sami Samir Naji
- Israeli authorities conducted a total of 538 demolitions last year
LONDON: Israeli forces demolished a Palestinian house under construction in Kafr Ad-Dik, a town west of Salfit in the northern occupied West Bank, on Wednesday.
Israeli troops, accompanied by military bulldozers, stormed the town and proceeded to the Sha’ab area, where they began demolishing a house that was under construction belonging to Sami Samir Naji, according to the Wafa news agency.
The Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission reported that Israeli authorities conducted a total of 538 demolitions last year, which destroyed 1,400 structures. This included 304 inhabited homes, 74 uninhabited homes, 270 economic facilities, and 490 agricultural facilities. The demolitions primarily took place in the governorates of Hebron, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Tubas, and Nablus, Wafa added.
Excluding East Jerusalem, which was occupied and annexed by Israel in 1967, there are about 3 million Palestinians and 500,000 Israeli settlers living in the West Bank.
