Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Health and Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, citing a court decision.
“I am forced with a heavy heart, with great sorrow and with a very bad feeling, to remove you from your position as a minister in the government,” Netanyahu wrote in a letter to Deri, which he read out to the Cabinet on Sunday.
The High Court of Justice disqualified Deri from serving as a minister in a Jan. 18 decision. He had been convicted of tax offenses last year and given a suspended sentence. He also served jail time beginning in 2000 following a conviction for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
