Latest scandal unlikely to rattle Netanyahu's coalition
Despite Interior Minister Aryeh Deri being investigated for corruption, most observers believe the Israeli government is stable and unlikely to fall apart.
When Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri showed up at the weekly Cabinet meeting on the morning of April 3, he tried to convey a sense of business as usual. He acted as if he were not the subject of a criminal investigation.
For the most part, Deri succeeded in concealing the emotions that must be churning inside him. After all, this is his second police investigation as a minister, and he was convicted in 2000 of bribery.
There was no sense of hysteria around the Cabinet table, no unusual behavior to indicate that the rug was being pulled out from under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s fourth government now that the chairman of Shas had gotten himself into trouble again.
The “Deri 2 scandal” shows no sign of subsiding. At first glance, it would seem to pose a threat to the government’s stability. Shas is, after all, a key party in Netanyahu’s narrow 61-seat coalition. Though Deri has always had a propensity for drama, he has so far shown loyalty to Netanyahu. There have been no shake-ups or crises. Now, however, the future of a major player in the government is uncertain, and there is even a possibility that he will be asked to give up his ministerial seat. This makes the question of how these developments might impact the coalition especially important.
