Shas MKs and ministers have spoken out in the past week regarding the "Deri Law," and whether it will be brought for a vote or shelved.
Welfare Minister Yakov Margi (Shas) on Monday clarified that revisiting the law is currently not under discussion, but his colleague, Labor Minister Yoav Ben-Tzur (Shas), said the law would soon be put back on the table
Margi told Maariv on Thursday morning, "The Deri Law was not advanced until now, by the instruction of Deri himself. He will be the one to decide if now, after the budget was approved, it will be brought for a Knesset vote."
Margi then said, "If it were dependent on us, the bill would have already passed its second and third [Knesset] readings."
Speaking to Kol Hai Radio this week, Ben-Tzur said, "Deri needs to be at the government table. The nation has made its statement. We need to stop caving to spiteful appeals by organizations. We are determined to pass the Deri Law at the proper time, and it will happen soon."
"We gave a window of time to delay the law, out of leadership, because there was a severe rift in the country. The judiciary did not reject Deri, but rather the vision, his leadership."
He added, "Shas is not leading the judicial reform, the Likud is leading it and we are only joining it. In everything connected to Deri, we will do everything in order to bring him back to the government table. He is very much missed at the government table."
The "Deri 2 Law" stipulates that the Supreme Court will not be able to hold a judicial review of ministerial appointments. It passed its first Knesset reading in March, and if it becomes law, would pave the way for Shas chairman Aryeh Deri’s return to the role of minister.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired Deri from his roles as Interior and Health Minister in late January, following a Supreme Court’s ruling that the Shas chairman may not serve as a minister in the current government due his conviction for tax offenses last year.
On Thursday morning, Margi told Maariv that, "The Deri Law has not been advanced until now, as per the instructions of Deri himself, and he will be the one who will decide whether now, after the budget was approved, it will be brought for a Knesset vote."