Aryeh Deri Interviewed In Jerusalem, Israel Editorial Image

Newly-installed Interior Minister, Arye Deri, takes a question from a member of the press after a meeting with his Shas Party political faction in the Knesset in December, 1988. Deri became the youngest government minister at 29, even though he had not formally run for the position in an election. In any case, a few years later he ran and won a Knesset Parliament seat. But in 1999 he was convicted of fraud, bribery, and breech of trust, and served 2 years in prison. In 2013 he ran again and won. In 2022, he was convicted of tax crimes. The Israel Supreme Court said this disqualified him for a seat in the Netanyahu government in January, 2023. His fate remains uncertain. Shas is Sephardic Orthodox religious party with a large working class constituency of Moroccan Jewish descent.