Israeli police are anticipating large protests in major cities in the country after speculation that the government may try and ignore a High Court ruling against a controversial minister.

On Wednesday, the High Court of Justice ruled in a 10-1 decision that Shas leader Aryeh Deri cannot become Deputy Prime Minister in the recently formed Israeli government.

Deri has previously admitted to committing tax fraud whilst serving as minister and accepted a plea bargain. He was given a NIS 180,000 fine, a 12-month suspended prison sentence and vowed to resign from the Knesset and retire from public life.

However, he was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of the Interior and Minister of Health by Netanyahu after winning his re-election bid in November.

The court declared Deri’s behaviour in the wake of the verdict against him “unreasonable in the extreme."

Benjamin Netanyahu, who appointed Deri to key government positions, has not yet confirmed whether he plans to revoke his positions in his government, but yesterday, a defiant Deri released a statement pledging to fight the decision saying: "When they close the door on us, we’ll get in through the window.

"When they close the window, we’ll break through the ceiling."

Last Saturday 80,000 people protested against the government’s planned changes to the judiciary, including former Leader of the Opposition Tzipi Livni and former Prime Minister Ehud Barak. More demonstrators are expected to attend protests in major Israeli cities such as Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa this weekend following Deri’s ruling.

The Black Flag group, who organised part of last week's protest, issued a statement pledging further action, saying: “Following the attack on the judicial system over Deri’s disqualification, and the calls from within the coalition to disobey the ruling, the organizers of the demonstration are calling on the heads of the opposition parties to announce that they will come to the mass demonstration and stand at the head of the protest march.”

Leader of the Opposition Yair Lapid, who was not present at the previous protest, will attend this weekend’s demonstrations and has promised to “protect our beloved country from democratic ruin”, announcing his plans in a video posted on Twitter.