Shas Chairman MK Aryeh Deri on Monday decided that MK Moshe Arbel will be appointed Minister of the Interior and Health in his place, three months after the High Court of Justice had revoked Deri’s appointment.
The senior member of Shas’s Council of Torah Sages, Rabbi Moshe Maya, who himself served as Shas MK from 1992 to 1996, and as Deputy Minister of Education and Culture from 1992 to 1993, on Monday morning, issued a statement in the party’s circular, Haderech, saying: “It was decided that for the time being MK Rabbi Moshe Arbel, who served as Deputy Minister of Health and the Interior, will be appointed to the position of Minister of Health and the Interior until Rabbi Aryeh Deri can return and be appointed to the position of Minister, and Rabbi Arbel will then return to serve as his deputy.”
Rabbi Maya continued: “As is well known, a few months ago, a scandalous decision was reached by the courts who do not rule according to Torah law, to invalidate the election choices of hundreds of thousands of voters, and to deprive our noble friend who was sent by the Merciful One and by our Sages, the chairman of the Shas movement Rabbi Aryeh Deri, of serving as minister.”
The statement concluded: “The members of the Shas faction, together with all the members of the coalition, will act as soon as possible to pass the necessary law to correct the injustice, and to appoint Rabbi Aryeh Deri as a minister, as was written in the agreement with him, so he may continue to act for the sake of the Torah and with concern for the needs of the many and the individual, inspired by God.”
Minister Arbel, 40, is an attorney who served as Shas’ legal counsel and ran Aryeh Deri’s political campaign. He has already been serving as the de facto minister holding both portfolios, but according to reports, never sat behind Chairman Deri’s desk in either ministry.
In June 2021, Arbel became known to the public when he defied a decree of the IDF Central Command commander and hauled provisions to the settlers in the disputed outpost of Evyatar.
So, a good guy.
