Peres gives Deri green light for return to public life

Peres believes that Deri, a convicted felon, has paid his debt to society, should be allowed to serve public in Knesset once more.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Arye Deri_521 (photo credit: Reuters)
Arye Deri_521
(photo credit: Reuters)
Regardless of attempts by some Knesset members to introduce legislation which will permanently bar former Shas leader Aryeh Deri from returning to public life and running for the Knesset in the next elections, President Shimon Peres believes that Deri, a convicted felon, has paid his debt to society and should therefore be allowed to serve the public in the Knesset once more.
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The president, who recently sat at the same table as Deri at the wedding of the granddaughter of Shas spiritual mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, was responding on Wednesday to a question from a haredi student at the Haredi Campus in Or Yehuda, where he addressed several hundred students and fielded their questions. The Haredi Campus is the religious branch of Kiryat Ono College.
In reply to another question regarding the apprehension and questioning by police of leading rabbis suspected of incitement, Peres said that no rabbi was above the law and that every rabbi, no matter what his status, was expected to abide by the rule of law and promote it among his followers.