The Supreme Court rejected two suits today against the so-called Deri Law. The judges were convinced by the State representatives who said that the law would in any event not be activated until the Knesset Law Committee sets guidelines as to who may benefit from it. The Deri Law permits parole to be granted to prisoners who have served half - not 2/3 - of their jail terms.
Aryeh Deri, the Shas party leader who is serving a three-year sentence for accepting bribes from yeshiva administrators, will be let out of prison next week for his first vacation since entering jail six months ago. He and tens of thousands of supporters around the country have insisted that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and thousands are expected to accompany him to his daughter\'s engagement party this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, on the same day, other throngs of people are expected to accompany another famous prisoner in the other direction - if President Moshe Katzav does not pardon her before then. Margalit Har-Shefi is scheduled to begin a nine-month prison sentence on Wednesday for knowing of Yigal Amir\'s plans to kill Yitzchak Rabin and not stopping him. She continues to insist, however, that she did not suspect that he was serious when he told her that he wanted to kill the Prime Minister. Her supporters say that in this she was not alone; then-GSS head Carmi Gillon said that at the time, no one actually thought that a Jew would kill the Prime Minister. In addition, Gillon said about Har-Shefi herself that she did not know of Amir\'s plans to perpetrate the murder.
A massive campaign is underway to obtain Har-Shefi\'s pardon, an official request for which was submitted yesterday. Justice Minister Meir Shetreet must recommend the pardon request before President Katzav acts on it. The public campaign involves petitions to President Katzav, faxes to Katzav (+972-2-561-1033) and Shetreet (+972-2-628-5438), a Hebrew and English website (), newspaper articles, and more. Supporters have asked, in case a pardon is not granted by Wednesday, for the public to accompany Margalit from her home in Beit El to prison that morning. When blessed by at least one well-wisher that the campaign should help, she said, \"If its effect is not felt here, then hopefully it will at least make an impression up above [in the Heavens]…\"
Aryeh Deri, the Shas party leader who is serving a three-year sentence for accepting bribes from yeshiva administrators, will be let out of prison next week for his first vacation since entering jail six months ago. He and tens of thousands of supporters around the country have insisted that he is innocent of any wrongdoing, and thousands are expected to accompany him to his daughter\'s engagement party this Wednesday.
Meanwhile, on the same day, other throngs of people are expected to accompany another famous prisoner in the other direction - if President Moshe Katzav does not pardon her before then. Margalit Har-Shefi is scheduled to begin a nine-month prison sentence on Wednesday for knowing of Yigal Amir\'s plans to kill Yitzchak Rabin and not stopping him. She continues to insist, however, that she did not suspect that he was serious when he told her that he wanted to kill the Prime Minister. Her supporters say that in this she was not alone; then-GSS head Carmi Gillon said that at the time, no one actually thought that a Jew would kill the Prime Minister. In addition, Gillon said about Har-Shefi herself that she did not know of Amir\'s plans to perpetrate the murder.
A massive campaign is underway to obtain Har-Shefi\'s pardon, an official request for which was submitted yesterday. Justice Minister Meir Shetreet must recommend the pardon request before President Katzav acts on it. The public campaign involves petitions to President Katzav, faxes to Katzav (+972-2-561-1033) and Shetreet (+972-2-628-5438), a Hebrew and English website (