Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Thursday gave Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu his professional opinion regarding the appointment of Shas chairperson Aryeh Deri as Interior Minister.

Deri, whose appointment will be brought for approval by the coalition government on Sunday, previously served as Interior Minister but abused his position and was forced to resign in September 1993. His acceptance of bribes while in the post led him to be jailed for corruption in 1999 for around two years, and to leave politics for a number of years.

According to Weinstein, Deri’s appointment to the role again after 22 years does not pose any legal difficulties.

The attorney general cited the Supreme Court’s rulings regarding the criterion for appointment, according to which he said there is no legal grounds to disqualify Deri from the post.

However, he said, “it must be noted that the very appointment of Deri as minister raises legal difficulties, and was even defined by the Supreme Court as a situation ‘on the edges of what is reasonable.’ The effect of these rulings is also valid regarding the appointment currently proposed.”

Weinstein emphasized that his statements solely touch on the legal validity of Deri’s appointment, but “do not provide grounds to say that the decision of this appointment is ‘good and appropriate,’ but rather only go to say that it does not oppose the law.”