Yuli-Yoel Edelstein(Hebrew:יולי יואל אדלשטיין,Russian:Юлий Йоэль Эдельштейн;born 5 August 1958)[1]is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 2020 to 2021. One of the most prominentrefuseniksin the Soviet Union, he was the 16thSpeaker of the Knessetfrom 2013 until his resignation on 25 March 2020.[2]
Yuli Edelstein | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2019 | |
| Ministerial roles | |
| 1996–1999 | Minister of Immigrant Absorption |
| 2009–2013 | Minister of Information & Diaspora |
| 2020–2021 | Minister of Health |
| Faction represented in theKnesset | |
| 1996–2003 | Yisrael BaAliyah |
| 2003–2006 | Likud |
| 2007– | Likud |
| Other roles | |
| 2013–2020 | Speaker of the Knesset |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Yulian Yur'evich Edelshtein (Юлиан Юрьевич Эдельштейн} 5 August 1958 Chernivtsi,Ukrainian SSR,Soviet Union |
| Spouse(s) |
Tatiana Freivort
(m.1981; died 2014) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Leonid Nevzlin(father-in-law) |
| Residence(s) | Neve Daniel,West Bank |
| Education | Moscow Pedagogical Institute(expelled) |
Early life
Yuli Edelstein was born inChernivtsiin theSoviet Union[1](nowUkraine) to a Jewish family. His mother, Anita Edelstein, was Jewish, while his father, Yuri Edelstein, is the son of a Jewish father and Christian mother. Both converted to Christianity and Yuri is now aRussian Orthodoxpriest in Karabanovo ofKostroma Oblastnamed Father Georgy.[3][4]While his parents taught at universities in the countryside, Edelstein was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather had taught himselfHebrewat the age of 70 and used to listen to theVoice of Israelon a shortwave radio. When Edelstein's grandfather died, Yuli began to study Hebrew and read books such asExodusbyLeon Uris.[5]
In 1977, during his second year of university, Edelstein applied for an exit visa toemigrateto Israel. Turned down, he began to associate with a small group of Hebrew teachers who held classes in their apartments.[5]One of Edelstein's students wasrefusenikAlexander Smukler.[6]In 1979, alongside Ephraim Kholmianski and Yuri Koroshovsky, Edelstein founded an underground organization, known as the 'City Project', with the intent of training Hebrew teachers and distributing Hebrew learning materials.[7]That year, he was expelled from university and suffered harassment by theKGBand local police. During this time, he found odd jobs as a street cleaner, security guard, and more.[5]
In 1984, he and other Hebrew teachers were arrested on fabricated charges, Edelstein himself being charged with possession of drugs,[8][9][10][11][12][13]and sentenced to three years. He was then sent toSiberianpenal coloniesand did hard labor, first inBuryatiaand then inNovosibirsk.He broke several bones after falling from a construction tower. He was due to be transferred back to Buryatia, but his wife, Tatiana (Tanya), threatened to go onhunger strikeif he was returned there.[14]
Edelstein was released in May 1987,[14]on the eve ofIsraeli Independence Day,the next to last of therefuseniksto be freed.[5]He thenemigrated to Israel,moving to theWest Banksettlement ofAlon Shvut.He did his national service in theIsrael Defense Forces,attaining the rank ofCorporal.[15]
Political career
Early career
Initially a member of theNational Religious Partyand a vice-president of the Zionist Forum, Edelstein founded theYisrael BaAliyahparty together with fellow Soviet dissidentNatan Sharansky.He was elected to the Knesset in1996,and was appointedMinister of Immigrant AbsorptioninBenjamin Netanyahu'sLikud-ledgovernment.[5]The long-term project of subsidizing housing for elderlymigrantsprepared by the ministry under his supervision and cooperation with theMinistry of Constructionraised controversy over expenditures overrun incurred by the project. Edelstein claimed that the investigative commission found such claims unsubstantiated.[16]He was re-elected in1999,and was appointed Deputy Immigrant Absorption Minister byAriel Sharonin 2001.[17]
He retained his seat in the2003 elections,shortly after which Yisrael BaAliyah merged into Likud. Although Edelstein lost his seat in the2006 elections,in which Likud was reduced to 12 seats (Edelstein was 14th on the party's list), he re-entered the Knesset as a replacement forDan Navehin February 2007. He retained his seat in the2009 electionsafter being placed twelfth on the party's list, and was appointedMinister of Information and Diasporain theNetanyahu government.[18]He was subsequently re-elected in2013after being placed on the eighteenth spot of theLikud Yisrael Beiteinulist.[19]
Speaker of the Knesset
Following the 2013 elections, Edelstein was nominated by Likud Yisrael Beitenu to replace thenSpeaker of the KnessetReuven Rivlin.His nomination was approved by all members of the party's parliamentary caucus excluding Rivlin, who chose to abstain.[20]It was then approved by the Knesset, with 96 members voting in favor and 8 abstaining.[21]Edelstein was sworn in as speaker on 14 March.[22]Edelstein was elected to the third place on the Likud list ahead of the2015 election.He was subsequently re-elected to the Knesset and then as Speaker, with 103 Members of the Knesset voting in favor and 7 abstaining.[23]During his tenure as speaker, Edelstein supported theNation-State Bill.[24]Ahead of theApril 2019 election,Edelstein was elected to the second place on the Likud list.[25]After the election, he was re-elected as Speaker, with 101 MKs voting in favor and 4 abstaining.[26]
Following the2020 election,a bloc ledBenny Gantzagreed to replace Edelstein as speaker of the Knesset. Despite this he refused to convene the plenary to vote on his replacement. TheMovement for Quality Government in Israelappealed to theSupreme Court,which ordered Edelstein to convene the Knesset. On March 25, Edelstein resigned as speaker to prevent a constitutional crisis.[27]On March 26, a newly formed coalition led by Netanyahu and Gantz elected the latter to be sworn in as the new Knesset Speaker.[28]
After speakership
Following the establishment of theThirty-fifth government,Edelstein was sworn in asMinister of Healthon 17 May 2020, and remained as minister until theThirty-sixth governmentwas sworn in on 13 June 2021.[17]On 11 October, he announced his intention to challenge Netanyahu for the Leadership of the Likud in the next leadership election.[29]Ahead of the2022 election,he withdrew from the race,[30]leading to its cancellation due to a lack of candidates.[31]In primaries for the party list held in August, Edelstein was placed on the 18th place on the Likud list and returned back to theKnesset.[32]
Statements
In December 2014, in an interview withThe Jerusalem Post,Edelstein warned world leaders against creating a Palestinian state that he thought would go to war with Israel.[33]
In the same interview, Edelstein stated that he believes in Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. In 2014, he was one of several Members of the Knesset (MK) who submitted complaints against Arab-IsraeliHaneen Zoabifor supporting Hamas, which led to her six-month suspension. "I have been in the Knesset for almost 19 years," Edelstein said. "I remember Arab MKs joining me at the March of the Living and proposing social-oriented legislation with me. That is definitely not Zoabi. I believe in coexistence and fighting against those who harm it and I think that Zoabi’s words and actions hurt coexistence. People hear her and think all Arabs must hate us and want to kill us. That is unhealthy, and we have to put an end to it.”
Edelstein criticized U.S. presidential candidateBernie Sandersfor saying that U.S. military aid to Israel should instead be diverted toward aid to Palestinians in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Edelstein said that Sanders should 'stop talking nonsense'.[34]
After the Israeli military police in July 2024 visitedSde Teiman detention campto detain nine Israeli soldiers suspected of abuse of a Palestinian prisoner, Edelman condemned the "situation where masked military police raid an IDF base […] our soldiers are not criminals and this despicable pursuit of our fighters is not acceptable.".[35]
Personal life
After leaving Alon Shvut, Edelstein moved toNeve Daniel,another settlement in the West Bank. He was married to Tatiana (Tanya) Edelstein, who was a Zionist activist, for 33 years. They met in the Soviet Union when she attended a Hebrew class he was teaching. After immigrating to Israel, she worked as a civil engineer at theCivil Aviation Authority.Tanya and Yuli Edelstein had two children together. In 2014, Tanya died of cancer at the age of 63.[36]
In June 2016, Edelstein marriedIrina Nevzlin,chair of the board of directors of TheMuseum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsotand President of the NADAV Foundation.
References
- ^ab"Knesset Member Yuli Yoel Edelstein".knesset.gov.il.Retrieved19 April2024.
- ^Wootliff, Raoul."In bombshell, Yuli Edelstein resigns to avoid calling vote on new speaker".timesofisrael.Retrieved22 July2020.
- ^Loiko, Sergei L. (22 April 2012)."Russian Orthodox Church is in spiritual crisis, critics say".Los Angeles Times.Archivedfrom the original on 11 November 2020.Retrieved14 March2015.
- ^"Russian priest visits son: Israel's absorption minister".Jewish Telegraphic Agency.13 November 1997.Retrieved14 March2015.
- ^abcdeDeborah Sontag (21 June 1999)."From Siberia to Israeli Cabinet (No, he's not Sharansky)".The New York Times.Retrieved14 March2015.
- ^Smukler, Alexander (2009)."Interview With the President"(PDF).National Coalition Supporting Eurasian Jewry: Annual Report.p. 5. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 1 January 2021.Retrieved21 July2020.
I continued with my course on civil engineering and construction during the day, and from 1980 onward, I studied Hebrew with Yuli Edelstein in the evening, behind closed doors.
- ^"עברית במחתרת"[Underground Hebrew].Davar(in Hebrew). 3 February 2018.Retrieved9 August2022.
- ^Encyclopaedia Judaica Year Book. 1986. p.366
- ^"When They Come for Us, We'll Be Gone: The Epic Struggle to Save Soviet Jewry". By Gal Beckerman. Chapter 12
- ^Philip Spiegel. "Triumph over tyranny: the heroic campaigns that saved 2,000,000 Soviet Jews". p. 157
- ^Maxim Shrayer. Leaving Russia: A Jewish Story. p.158
- ^The Listener. Volume 113. p.43. British Broadcasting Corporation, 1985.
- ^The Prosecution of Demonstrators Outside the Soviet Embassy: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Administrative Practice and Procedure of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, Ninety-ninth Congress, Second Session, on Citizens Exercising Their Constitutionally Protected Rights, Protesting the Brutal Treating of Human Beings in Faraway Lands, 15 May 1986. p.30
- ^abDina Goldman."Yuli Edelstein".The Jewish Agency for Israel.Retrieved14 March2015.
- ^ParticularsKnesset
- ^Интервью Эдельштейна газете NEWSru.co.il:По словам депутата Эдельштейна, разговоры о перерасходе государственных средств при реализации данного проекта продолжаются многие годы, но две проверяющие комиссии не поддержали эти утверждения, хотя эти комиссии создавались не сторонниками «Микбацей диюр».
- ^ab"חבר הכנסת יולי יואל אדלשטיין"[Member of the Knesset Yuli Yoel Edelstein].Knesset.Retrieved9 August2022.
- ^"Netanyahu sworn in as Israel's prime minister".Haaretz.1 April 2009.Retrieved14 March2015.
- ^Yahav, Telem (6 December 2012)."כל הרשימות הוגשו: בחירות 2013 יוצאות לדרך"[All lists have been submitted: 2013 election begins].Ynet(in Hebrew).Retrieved25 August2022.
- ^Alon, Gidon (15 March 2013)."יולי אדלשטיין: ממסורב עלייה ליו" ר "[Yuli Edelstein: from refusenik to speaker].israelhayom.co.il.Retrieved25 August2022.
- ^"ריבלין:" רק 3 לא רצו בי - ליברמן, נתניהו, והאדם השלישי ""[Rivlin: "Only 3 didn't want me - Liberman, Netanyahu, and a third person" ].וואלה!(in Hebrew). 28 March 2013.Retrieved25 August2022.
- ^"יולי אדלשטיין"[Yuli Edelstein].Maariv.Retrieved25 August2022.
- ^Nir, Tomer (31 March 2015)."כצפוי: יולי אדלשטיין נבחר ליו" ר הכנסת ה-20 "[As Expected: Yuli Edelstein elected speaker of the 20th Knesset].Srugim(in Hebrew).Retrieved26 August2022.
- ^Liss, Yehonatan; Landau, Noa (18 July 2018)."בתום דיון לילי ארוך: מליאת הכנסת אישרה את חוק הלאום"[After a lengthy night-time discussion: the Knesset Plenum has approved the Nation-State law].Haaretz(in Hebrew).Retrieved26 August2022.
- ^Klein, Yehonatan (6 February 2019)."רשימת הליכוד לכנסת: אדלשטיין ראשון, חזן בחוץ"[The Likud's Knesset List: Edelstein is first, Hazan is out].כיפה(in Hebrew).Retrieved26 August2022.
- ^Twizer, Inbar (30 April 2019)."יולי אדלשטיין נבחר ליו" ר הכנסת בפעם השלישית "[Yuli Edelstein elected Knesset Speaker for a third time].Ynet(in Hebrew).Retrieved26 August2022.
- ^Wootliff, Raoul."In bombshell, Yuli Edelstein resigns to avoid calling vote on new speaker".The Times of Israel.Retrieved25 March2020.
- ^Wootliff, Raoul."Elected Knesset speaker by right wing, Gantz heads for government with Netanyahu".The Times of Israel.Retrieved26 March2020.
- ^Segal, Amit (11 October 2021)."יולי אדלשטיין בראיון בלעדי:" אתמודד מול נתניהו, איתו לא... "[Yuli Edelstein in Exclusive Interview: "I will run against Netanyahu, not with him" ].N12.Retrieved30 August2022.
- ^Azulai, Moran (30 June 2022)."אדלשטיין לא יתמודד מול נתניהו על ראשות הליכוד:" זה הזמן להיות מלוכדים ""[Edelstein will not run against Netanyahu for Likud leadership: "It's time to be united" ].Ynet(in Hebrew).Retrieved30 August2022.
- ^Ettinger, Amit (19 July 2022)."סופית: הפריימריז בליכוד ייערכו ב-10 באוגוסט"[Final: Likud Primaries to be held 10 August].israelhayom.co.il.Retrieved30 August2022.
- ^Shalev, Tal (11 August 2022)."תוצאות הפריימריז בליכוד: לוין במקום הראשון, ישראל כץ ואדלשטיין מחוץ לעשירייה הפותחת"[Results of Likud Primaries: Levin in first place, Israel Katz and Edelstein outside the top ten].וואלה!(in Hebrew).Retrieved30 August2022.
- ^Gil Hoffman; Lahav Harkov (29 December 2014)."Edelstein: Wrong to create Palestinian state Israel would have to attack".The Jerusalem Post.Retrieved14 March2015.
- ^Allison Kaplan Sommer (29 October 2019)."Israel's Knesset Speaker to Bernie Sanders: 'Stop Talking Nonsense'".Haaretz.Retrieved31 October2019.
- ^Peleg, Bar; Solomon, Eden; Maanit, Chen; Kubovich, Yaniv (30 July 2024)."IDF Moves Troops to Base Where Violent Mob Protested Arrest of Soldiers for Abusing Gaza Detainee".Haaretz.Archived fromthe originalon 30 July 2024.Retrieved30 July2024.
- ^Lazar Berman (24 January 2014)."Tanya Edelstein, wife of Knesset speaker, dies at 63".Times of Israel.Retrieved14 March2015.
External links
- Yuli Edelsteinon the Knesset website
- Yuli Edelstein – Web Page