Israel's Supreme Court has ruled that a high-ranking member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's newly formed government cannot hold ministerial office because of a recent conviction for tax evasion, AFP reports.

The decision was criticized by Netanyahu's coalition, which promised to promote controversial measures that would weaken the power of the Supreme Court and its power to overturn laws.

Netanyahu returned to power last month at the head of a coalition with far-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties after Israel's Nov. 1 elections.

Aryeh Deri's appointment as minister of health and interior cannot be accepted because it was highly unreasonable, the court said in its summary judgment.

The judges said that Netanyahu must remove Deri from his position.

Deri, head of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, confessed to tax evasion last year, was fined 180,000 shekels ($50,000) and gave up his seat in parliament.

In Israel, the Supreme Court now has the power to overturn laws or government decisions it deems discriminatory or unreasonable.

Last month, lawmakers passed a law that allows anyone convicted of offenses but not sentenced to imprisonment to serve as a minister.

Deri's Shas party called the court's decision political, highly unreasonable, and unprecedented, but refrained from announcing any specific measures.