The cabinet unanimously approved on Sunday morning the appointment of Shas leader Aryeh Deri as interior minister. Deri will also remain Negev and Galilee development minister. The position of interior minister opened up last month when Silvan Shalom (Likud) resigned from the job amid sexual misconduct allegations. Since then, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has served as interim interior minister. Deri, 56, previously served as interior minister from 1988 to 1993 before the Supreme Court forced him to resign due to corruption charges against him. In 2000, he was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison for taking bribes while he was interior minister. Deri served just under two years in prison before being set free in July 2002. After a mandated cooling-off period due to moral turpitude, Deri re-entered politics and was elected to the Knesset in 2013. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein determined there was no impediment to Deri becoming interior minister again. The Knesset will vote on Deri's appointment on Monday. Netanyahu congratulated Deri on Sunday and told him that the two main challenges facing him at the Interior Ministry will dealing with illegal migration and reforming the municipal tax system. Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid criticized the appointment, saying Sunday that "when citizens think the system is crooked, it's hard to explain to them why they should remain law-abiding."
