Shas activists, thronging outside the Jerusalem District Court said "Arieh Deri is a leader on a universal scale. Without Arieh, we are lost. Arieh has helped and supported people, has dug into his own pocket to assist families. We do not believe the Court, they have taken him as a victim. There are a million Arieh Deri supporters, and another six hundred thousand children".
Deri’s friend David Appel left the Court before the reading of the verdict ended. "I am utterly shocked", he said. "I don’t believe that it could happen in this country that judges are so completely led off course by the press. They were honest enough to say that the entire judgement is based on a press report".
Deri’s defence counsel, Adv. Navot Tel-Zur said: "We were more optimistic. There is no doubt that this is a harsh and severe judgement. My comment was spoken in court, in the sense that I am asking that the interval until the appeal be kept short. This is a severe verdict that has taken us by surprise, and I am disappointed. I wanted the procedure over with as quickly as possible, so as to make our appeal all the sooner".
Counsel for the prosecution, deputy State Attorney Adv. Yehoshua Resnik commented: "The Court has had its say, and had upheld the position of the prosecution as we voiced it. The Court found the defendants guilty on the first charge, which is the principal count of bribery".
Resnik added: "Prosecuting attorneys never have a sense of joy. There is satisfaction that the Court has upheld our position, and seen fit to place its reliance on the summing up. I wish to emphasise the way the Court related to the prolongation of the proceedings. The Court overwhelmingly determined that all complaints against the State Attorney's Office and the police were unjustified, and that both entities acted properly".
Published by Israel's Business Arena March 17, 1999