Aryeh Deri
Leader of Shas since the 1980s and Minister of the Interior on several occasions, Aryeh Deri has been involved in two legal cases: a corruption conviction in 1999 (prison sentence) and a plea agreement for tax fraud in 2022, which led the Supreme Court to invalidate his ministerial appointment in January 2023.
- Ideology
- Sephardi Haredi, religious conservative
- Current role
- Chairman of the Shas party
- Born
- February 17, 1959Meknes, Morocco
Key takeaways
- 01
Leader of Shas since the 1980s; first became Minister of the Interior at 29 in 1988, the youngest minister in Israel's history.
- 02
Convicted in 1999 of corruption, fraud and breach of trust; served 22 months in prison before being released on parole in 2002.
- 03
Political comeback in 2013, became Minister of the Interior again (2016–2021), then Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister (December 2022–January 2023).
- 04
Pleaded guilty in January 2022 to tax offenses; the Supreme Court invalidated his ministerial appointment on January 18, 2023.
- 05
Has not regained any ministerial position since; heads the Shas list in the October 27, 2026 elections, following the resignation of the party's ministers in July 2025 over Haredi conscription.
- 06
In October 2026, made any participation in government conditional on the prior passage of a law regularizing the status of yeshiva students; surplus-vote agreement with United Torah Judaism on October 11.
Controversies
Convicted in 1999 of corruption, he served a prison sentence before being released in 2002, with a statutory ban on political activity for several years.
Pleaded guilty in 2022 to tax offenses and received a suspended sentence.
His ministerial appointment was annulled by the Supreme Court in January 2023, deemed “extremely unreasonable.”
Shas ministers left the government in July 2025 to protest the absence of a law exempting Haredim from military service. Deri remained on the security cabinet and downplayed the pressure over enlistment in 2026.
A Shas campaign advertisement was withdrawn in August 2026 on the orders of the election commissioner.
Born on February 17, 1959, in Meknes, Morocco, Aryeh Deri immigrated to Israel in 1968, at the age of nine, and settled in Bat Yam. He studied at the Ozar Hatorah school from the age of five, then at Porat Yosef Yeshiva (1973) and Hebron Yeshiva (1976, where he received rabbinic ordination). He participated in the founding of Shas, became secretary of the movement's Council of Torah Sages in 1984, and then secretary-general of the party in late 1985.
He was first appointed Minister of the Interior on December 22, 1988, at the age of 29, becoming the youngest minister in Israel's history at the time; he held this position with interruptions until 1993. Convicted in 1999 of corruption, fraud and breach of trust, he was sentenced in 2000 to three years in prison, part of which he served at Maasiyahu Prison before being released on parole in July 2002.
He made his political comeback in 2013, became Minister of the Economy and of the Development of the Negev and the Galilee (2015), then Minister of the Interior (2016–2021) and, in 2018, Minister of Religious Services. He rejoined the government in December 2022 as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister. On January 25, 2022, he had pleaded guilty to tax offenses (evading approximately 534,000 shekels in taxes), and was sentenced on February 1, 2022, to a one-year suspended sentence and a fine of 180,000 shekels.
On January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled, invoking the doctrine of “reasonableness,” that his ministerial appointment was “extremely unreasonable” in light of this conviction, and annulled it; Netanyahu dismissed him from office on January 22, 2023. A coalition bill aimed at preventing any judicial review of ministerial appointments passed a preliminary reading in February 2023, then a first reading on March 20, but was never enacted: it remained stalled in committee after the suspension of the judicial reform in late March 2023. Since then, Deri has not regained any ministerial portfolio; he serves as a member of the Knesset and chairs Shas.
In July 2025, Shas's six ministers and deputy minister resigned from the government to protest the absence of a law exempting Haredim from military service; Deri, who holds no ministerial position, nevertheless continued to sit on the security cabinet as a member of the Knesset. As the October 27, 2026 elections approach, he heads the Shas list while defending the party's position on Haredi conscription (details in “Controversies”).
Born on February 17, 1959, in Meknes, Morocco, Aryeh Deri immigrated to Israel in 1968, at the age of nine, and settled in Bat Yam. He studied at the Ozar Hatorah school from the age of five, then at Porat Yosef Yeshiva (1973) and Hebron Yeshiva (1976, where he received rabbinic ordination).
He took part in founding Shas, became secretary of the movement's Council of Torah Sages in 1984, and then secretary-general of the party in late 1985.
Aryeh Deri was first appointed Minister of the Interior on December 22, 1988, at the age of 29, becoming the youngest minister in Israel's history at the time; he held this position with interruptions until 1993, including a period as minister without portfolio.
Convicted in 1999 of bribery, fraud and breach of trust (roughly $155,000 in bribes taken while serving as minister), he was sentenced in 2000 to three years in prison. He served about 22 months of it at Ma'asiyahu Prison before being released on parole in July 2002, with the parole board barring him from political activity for a set period.
Aryeh Deri made his political comeback in 2013. He became Minister of the Economy and of the Development of the Negev and the Galilee (2015), then Minister of the Interior (2016-2021), and also Minister of Religious Services in 2018. He rejoined the government in December 2022 as Minister of the Interior, Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister.
On January 25, 2022, he had pleaded guilty to tax offenses: he had underreported real estate sales and failed to pay tax on about 534,000 shekels of income received through the Green Ocean investment fund. On February 1, 2022, he received a one-year suspended sentence and a 180,000-shekel fine.
On January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled, based on the "reasonableness" doctrine, that his appointment as minister was "unreasonable in the extreme" because of this conviction, and canceled it. Netanyahu removed him from office on January 22, 2023. A coalition bill, called the "Deri Law" in the press, aimed to block any judicial review of ministerial appointments. It passed a preliminary reading on February 22, 2023 (62-53), then a first reading on March 20 (63-55), but was never passed in a final reading. It stayed stuck in committee after the judicial reform was paused in late March 2023.
Since his dismissal in January 2023, Aryeh Deri has not held any ministerial post; he serves as an MK and chairs Shas. In July 2025, the party's six ministers and one deputy minister resigned from the government in protest because there was no law exempting Haredim from military service. Deri still sits on the security cabinet as an MK.
In 2026, ahead of the October 27 election, he played down the pressure over Haredi enlistment ("the army knows how to cope," September 3). He accused the IDF chief of staff of "election interference" (July 16) after the chief of staff opposed a law blocking the arrest of draft evaders. He also threatened a Haredi "tax revolt" (June 1). On July 15, the High Court suspended that law. On August 23, 2026, the elections commissioner ordered Shas to remove a campaign ad featuring a Haredi soldier, ruling that it broke election rules.
In 1999, Deri was convicted of bribery, fraud and breach of trust for taking about $155,000 in bribes while serving as Interior Minister. In 2000, he was sentenced to three years in prison. He served about 22 months at Ma'asiyahu Prison and was released in July 2002. A seven-year legal ban then prevented him from returning to political activity.
On January 25, 2022, he pleaded guilty to tax offenses: he had underreported real estate sales and failed to pay tax on about 534,000 shekels of income received through the Green Ocean investment fund. On February 1, 2022, he received a one-year suspended sentence and a 180,000-shekel fine.
On January 18, 2023, the Supreme Court ruled that his appointment as minister was "unreasonable in the extreme" and canceled it. He was removed from office on January 22. A coalition bill, called the "Deri Law" in the press, aimed to block any judicial review of ministerial appointments. It passed a preliminary reading on February 22, 2023 (62-53), then a first reading on March 20 (63-55), but was never passed in a final reading. It stayed stuck in committee after the judicial reform was suspended on March 27, 2023.
On July 17, 2025, Shas's six ministers and its deputy minister left the government in protest because there was no law exempting Haredim from military service. Deri still sits on the security cabinet as an MK. In 2026, he repeatedly played down the pressure over Haredi enlistment. On June 1, he warned that the attorney general's actions would lead to a Haredi "tax revolt." On July 16, he accused Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir of "election interference" after Zamir opposed a law blocking the arrest of draft evaders. On July 15, the High Court suspended that law, finding the petitioners' arguments "substantial."
On August 23, 2026, the elections commissioner ordered Shas to remove a campaign ad showing a Haredi IDF soldier, ruling that it broke election rules.