Aryeh Dery

Aryeh Makhlouf Deri, also Arie Deri, Arye Deri, or Arieh Deri (born 17 February 1959), is an Israeli politician and one of the founders of the Shas political party who served as the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Health, and Minister of the Interior and Periphery under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from 2022 to 2023. Previously he served as the Minister of the Interior, Minister of the Development of the Negev and Galilee, Minister of the Economy, as well as a member in the Security Cabinet of Israel. In 1999, Deri was convicted of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust; he was given a three-year jail sentence. At the end of 2012, ahead of the elections for the nineteenth Knesset, he returned to lead the Shas party. He was placed in second position on the list, thus being re-elected to the Knesset. In May 2013, he was re-appointed to the role of Shas chairman. In December 2021, it was reported that Deri would resign from the Knesset as part of a plea deal for tax offenses. After re-entering the Knesset in the 2022 elections, he briefly secured posts as both Interior Minister and Health Minister in the thirty-seventh government. Deri was also set to serve as Deputy Prime Minister for the administration. However, due to a January 2023 ruling by the Supreme Court of Israel that Deri was not eligible for a ministerial position due to his criminal convictions and the terms of his plea deal, he was dismissed from his official posts in the Israeli cabinet. Early life Aryeh Mahlouf Deri was born in Meknes, Morocco, to Esther and Eliyahu Deri. His parents lived in one of the new wealthy districts of the city, and were influenced by French culture. His father owned a successful tailoring business, and his family were traditional Jews, but not Orthodox. At the age of 5, Deri was enrolled at Ozar Hatorah, a school that combined secular and Orthodox Jewish religious education. In 1968, at the age of 9, his family made Aliyah and settled in Bat Yam. Deri attended a religious boarding school in Hadera. In 1973, he began to study at Porat Yosef, a leading Sephardic yeshiva in Jerusalem. In May 1976, he transferred to Hebron Yeshiva, where he received his rabbinical ordination. After completing his yeshiva studies, Deri was appointed secretary of the Haredi settlement of Ma'ale Amos, and joined the Gush Etzion Regional Council. In 1983, he was appointed administrative manager of Lev Banim Yeshiva.