Netanyahu sacks key ally to comply Israeli Supreme Court ruling

• It's also a political blow to Deri and the Shas party. It will be very hard to find a legislative solution to bypass the Supreme Court ruling and allow Deri to become a minister again.

Driving the news: The Supreme Court had ruled Deri's appointment was "highly unreasonable" due to the Shas party leader's past criminal convictions.

• During a Cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu read a letter he gave Deri announcing he is firing him.
• Netanyahu wrote that the Supreme Court decision "disregarded the will of the people" in the last election.
• He stressed he will "seek every legal path" that will allow Deri to continue contributing and return to government.

What they're saying: Deri said in the Cabinet meeting that once the ruling was made, he didn't contemplate at any point not adhering to it.

• He denied that he had made a commitment in his plea bargain last year to leave political life as the Supreme Court said in its ruling.

• "I am committed to 400,000 Shas voters. No court ruling will stop me from representing and serving them. I will continue leading Shas party," Deri said.
• He added that he will help the government to implement its controversial judicial overhaul plan, which would weaken the Supreme Court and other democratic institutions. The plan has faced growing opposition from the Israeli public, with more than 100,000 people across Israel joining protests against the government on Saturday night.

Go deeper: Netanyahu judicial overhaul will be "fatal blow" to Israel's democracy, top judge says