Activists from the Movement for Quality Government in Israel have launched a campaign, hanging signs on main roads and bridges throughout the country in protest of the intent to appoint Aryeh Deri (Shas) as a minister in the Israeli government.
Shani Kom, the head of the movement's operations department, stated: "Judge Herbst wrote in Deri's most recent conviction, 'Anyone who is worried about the defendant and his harm to the public treasury and will claim that there is a danger involved in his business with public or private funds, can relax and surely say that the defendant won't touch public services that pertain to financial dealings, since he will leave the public sector.'"
"Today, despite that statement, Prime Minister-designate [Benjamin] Netanyahu plans to grant Aryeh Deri the position of Finance Minister, no less."
Kom added that, "We are here to tell Netanyahu and Deri that it won't pass quietly, and we will continue to fight against the intention to corrupt the government - at intersections, bridges, squares, and anywhere that our voices will be heard."
The movement's chairman Elad Shraga attacked Deri's expected appointment to the Finance Ministry, saying: "Aryeh Deri is a convicted serial criminal who harmed the public treasury time and again. Serial criminals need to undergo rehabilitation and not return to the scene of the crime, and therefore, the very thought that someone like that can be responsible for public funds is preposterous, and shows the deep inconsideration of the public's feelings and money."
According to Shraga, "The Honorable Judge Herbst wrote: 'Anyone who is worried about the defendant and his harm to the public treasury and will claim that there is a danger involved in his business with public or private funds, can relax and surely say that the defendant won't touch public services that pertain to financial dealings, since he will leave the public sector.' Just as we foresaw and forewarned, Deri belittles the ruling and is again planning the crime. It is best to plan now how to stop this appointment before the convicted felon Deri harms the public treasury again."