Deri reportedly leaks ailing Shas minister’s resignation without agreement

Shas told reporters that Religious Affairs Minister David Azoulay plans to quit the Knesset Thursday, even though the minister never agreed to resign.

Interior Minister Arye Deri reportedly leaked the information to the media to pressure Azoulay, who was been hospitalized in recent weeks, making it difficult to get a majority for the haredi-backed Shabbat bill and leading to the postponement of its final vote until Monday.

Deri hatched a plan by which Azoulay would resign from the Knesset but retain his cabinet portfolio, and his son, Yinon Azoulay, would take his place. According to the Shas sources who said Azoulay would quit also said the four men preceding the younger Azoulay on Shas’ list agreed to resign so he can enter the Knesset.

However, despite the announcement and news headlines, Azoulay - who was released from the hospital on Thursday - soon made it clear that he does not want to resign.

“There is no truth to the rumor about my expected resignation from the Knesset,” Azoulay said. “I am in constant contact with the party leader Rabbi Arye and I plan to come [to vote on the Shabbat bill]. Deri and I are fully coordinated and I plan to participate in the votes next week in the Knesset.”

His refusal stands even though it would fall under the Mini-Norwegian Law, which allows one minister or deputy minister per party to resign from the Knesset, but return when he or she wishes, or if the party leaves the coalition, and the person who entered instead will no longer be an MK.

The legislation for which the Religious Affairs Minister is quitting the Knesset is “minimarkets bill,” which would require any municipalities that seek to pass laws permitting commerce on Saturdays to receive approval from the interior minister, something Deri is unlikely to give.

The coalition has faced difficulty getting a majority to vote for the bill, because Yisrael Beytenu and Kulanu MK Tali Ploskov voted against it in its first reading and plan to do so again, and the opposition has come out in full force against it as well. Between Azoulay’s illness and Likud MK Yehudah Glick sitting shiva for his wife this week, Shas and United Torah Judaism decided to postpone the vote planned for this week to Monday.

Deri also looked into the possibility of Glick coming to the Knesset to vote hours after his wife’s funeral, but was rebuffed, and faced sharp public criticism.

The “minimarkets bill” came as part of a compromise between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties after a coalition crisis over public violations of the Sabbath. UTJ MK Ya’acov Litzman resigned from the health minister post because of railway work on Saturdays, and this bill is seen as a way for Deri to present himself defending Shabbat just as fiercely, even after Litzman outdid him.