Arye Deri announces that he will not return to gov't

Shas Party leader Arye Deri announced on Wednesday that he does not intend to return to the government.

"We have five very talented ministers in Shas, I used my time to strengthen the movement," he said. "Personally, today I have no interest in returning to the government table or the cabinet."

In addition, Deri said that he does not intend to promote the "Deri Law 2," which would restrict the High Court of Justice’s judicial intervention with appointments of ministers.

Deri also said that the protest against the judicial reform stopped the pace of the legislation: "Obviously, the protest gave us a different perspective," according to him, "The easiest thing to say is 'I have a majority and I vote' - but those who have responsibility must look at the whole picture, what is happening here, in the world, in the army and understand where the source of all these fears comes from."

The Shas leader also said that "The reform, the government's composition, and the statements by all kinds of people who led it put a lot of people in fear, and it created enough trauma where there's deliberate thought to make a new regime here.

"It's no secret in the last month that we see that there is no outstretched hand in the opposition that is ready to make a decision. We are thinking of an idea to make a unilateral move, especially the things that we were willing to consider as part of negotiations with the opposition," he continued.

The notice of dismissal

Last January, Netanyahu dismissed Deri from his positions in the government, following the High Court's ruling that disqualified his appointment a week earlier. The Prime Minister stated: "Following the order of the ruling - I am forced with a heavy heart, with great sorrow, to remove you from your position in the government.