According to a Maagei Mohot Institute poll for the Israel Hayom newspaper, 22 percent of respondents said they disagreed with the Supreme Court, while 13 percent avoided commenting on the issue.
45 percent thought Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should fire Deri, 25 percent said the latter should resign, 15 percent said the PM should not respect the verdict, and the same number did not respond.
A joint poll by the companies iPanel and Midgam yesterday showed that 63 percent supported the verdict and only 27 percent criticized the court’s decision.
Last week, the country’s highest judiciary ruled by 10 votes in favour, to one against, that the head of the Ministry of Interior and Health cannot serve as a result of his conviction for tax crimes a year ago.
Deri left the legislature in January last year under a plea deal, although he later returned to the floor in elections held in early November.
The politician also spent 22 months in prison from 2000 to 2002 for accepting bribes as interior minister.
Channel 12 reported that the right-wing coalition now wants to appoint him President of the Knesset (parliament) to prevent him from losing his seat.
After the court ruling, the opposition demanded that the deputy be dismissed in full.
Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid has warned that if they don’t stop it, the executive branch will break the law, triggering “an unprecedented constitutional crisis”.
A few days ago, Israel Hayom announced that Netanyahu would not appeal the verdict. Faced with the possibility that his boss could be fired, Shas threatened to keep the executive branch in a minority.
“If Deri cannot remain in government, there will be no government,” warned the head of welfare and a member of that group, Yaakov Marji, in statements to Kan radio station.
Shas’ 11 seats are key to the power of the alliance, which holds 64 of the 120 seats in the chamber.
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