Interior Minister Arye Der’i under corruption probe

The name of Arye Der’i, senior cabinet minister of interior, and leader of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, has come up again as the subject of a corruption probe. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has yet to decide whether to launch a criminal investigation that would potentially affect the makeup of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s coalition government. A gag order covers the nature of the suspicions against the minister.

 Der’i's earlier career as a political force was cut short in 2000 when he was sentenced to three years in prison for accepting bribes as interior minister. His return to the government in his old job was widely criticized.