The ongoing saga known here as “Derigate” continued on Thursday, as Eli Tsuberi, an aide to Shas Knesset member Arieh Gamliel, was ordered released from prison by a Tel Aviv magistrate after spending 29 days in jail.
It was also disclosed Thursday that Interior Minister Arye Deri, the center of the controversy, underwent questioning for a second time by police on Wednesday. The hour-long grilling, which took place at his office, was reportedly conducted in a “good atmosphere.”
Tsuberi is a key suspect in arranging to tap the telephone of journalist Mordechai Gilat, whose articles in Yediot Achronot triggered the investigation of Deri.
But Tsuberi remains under house arrest, permitted to leave only to attend synagogue services on Yom Kippur and Sukkot. He must report to the police twice weekly for the next 45 days.
Wednesday’s questioning of Deri was said to have dealt with illegal wiretaps, but it was not known whether or to what extent the young Shas minister is cooperating with the police investigation of his alleged financial improprieties.
His questioning earlier this month apparently cast no further light on charges that Deri and his associates illegally transferred state funds to institutions run by the ultra-Orthodox Shas party.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
