Knesset Panel’s Vote Sets Way to Lift Shas Leader’s Immunity

The process of removing the parliamentary immunity of former Interior Minister Aryeh Deri got under way Sunday, with a vote by the Knesset House Committee paving the way for a full Knesset vote on the matter in two weeks.

Deri, who heads the fervently Orthodox Shas party, requested the removal of his immunity so he can stand trial on charges of bribery and fraud. He said he believes he will get a fair hearing only in a court of law.

In the committee discussion, the former minister reportedly spoke of new evidence that would prove his innocence.

Deri resigned his post as interior minister Sept. 12 after the High Court of Justice ruled that holding a Cabinet post was inconsistent with the charges leveled against him.

Outgoing Attorney General Yosef Harish, meanwhile, sought to defend the integrity of his indictment against Deri. He has been charged by Shas party members of persecuting the former minister because he is a leader of the Sephardic party, a charge Harish labeled “an outrage.”

Allegations surfaced last week that lifting Deri’s immunity was somehow connected to the government’s intensive campaign to win Shas’ support for the accord with the Palestine Liberation Organization, but this was sharply denied by House Committee Chairman Hagai Meirom.

After days of tense uncertainty, Shas members abstained in last week’s vote on the controversial accord, which was billed as a show of confidence in the government.

Nonetheless, negotiations were to begin this week to re-establish the party’s footing within the governing coalition.

Shas agreed to abstain in the vote on the agreement, reportedly in exchange for the Labor Party’s promise to investigate charges of persecution and discrimination in the Deri case.