The Parole Board decided this morning that former cabinet minister and Shas party leader Aryeh Deri will in fact be released from prison after serving two-thirds of his three-year sentence. He was imprisoned two years ago for bribery and related charges - though he has never ceased insisting that he was not guilty.



Widely revered by Shas supporters at the party\'s putative leader - though not by supporters of current party leader Eli Yeshai - Deri will not be permitted to serve as a Knesset Member for seven years, nor as a government minister for the next ten. Minister Yeshai made a surprising call this morning for Deri to return to Shas. The soon-to-be-free Deri told the Parole Board today that he plans to return to public life, but not necessarily in politics. He said he would visit the prison weekly to deliver a Torah class and help the needy.