Yuli-Yoel Edelstein
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} Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (, ; born 5 August 1958) is an Israeli politician who served as Minister of Health from 2020 to 2021. One of the most prominent
refuseniks Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and othe ...
in the Soviet Union, he was the 16th
Speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...
from 2013 until his resignation on 25 March 2020. In 2022, Edelstein was re-elected and joined the 25th Knesset, where he serves as Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.


Early life

Yuli Edelstein was born in
Chernivtsi Chernivtsi (, ; , ;, , see also #Names, other names) is a city in southwestern Ukraine on the upper course of the Prut River. Formerly the capital of the historic region of Bukovina, which is now divided between Romania and Ukraine, Chernivt ...
in the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
(now
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
) 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 a
Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
priest in Karabanovo of
Kostroma Oblast Kostroma Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Kostroma and its population as of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census i ...
named Father Georgy. While his parents taught at universities in the countryside, Edelstein was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather had taught himself
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
at the age of 70 and used to listen to the Voice of Israel on a shortwave radio. When Edelstein's grandfather died, Yuli began to study Hebrew and read books such as '' Exodus'' by Leon Uris. In 1977, during his second year of university, Edelstein applied for an exit visa to
emigrate Emigration is the act of leaving a resident country or place of residence with the intent to settle elsewhere (to permanently leave a country). Conversely, immigration describes the movement of people into one country from another (to permanentl ...
to Israel. Turned down, he began to associate with a small group of Hebrew teachers who held classes in their apartments. One of Edelstein's students was
refusenik Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and oth ...
Alexander Smukler. 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. That year, he was expelled from university and suffered harassment by the
KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...
and local police. During this time, he found odd jobs as a street cleaner, security guard, and more. In 1984, he and other Hebrew teachers were arrested on fabricated charges, Edelstein himself being charged with possession of drugs, and sentenced to three years. He was then sent to
Siberian Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states si ...
penal colonies A penal colony or exile colony is a Human settlement, settlement used to exile prisoners and separate them from the general population by placing them in a remote location, often an island or distant colony, colonial territory. Although the te ...
and did hard labor, first in
Buryatia Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District since 2018. To its nort ...
and then in
Novosibirsk Novosibirsk is the largest city and administrative centre of Novosibirsk Oblast and the Siberian Federal District in Russia. As of the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 1,633,595, making it the most populous city in Siber ...
. 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 on
hunger strike A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance where participants fasting, fast as an act of political protest, usually with the objective of achieving a specific goal, such as a policy change. Hunger strikers that do not take fluids are ...
if he was returned there. Edelstein was released in May 1987, on the eve of Israeli Independence Day, the next to last of the
refuseniks Refusenik (, ; alternatively spelled refusnik) was an unofficial term for individuals—typically, but not exclusively, Soviet Jews—who were denied permission to emigrate, primarily to Israel, by the authorities of the Soviet Union and othe ...
to be freed. He then emigrated to Israel, moving to the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
settlement of
Alon Shvut Alon Shvut () is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, established in June 1970 over lands confiscated from the nearby State of Palestine, Palestinian town of Khirbet Beit Zakariyyah. It is part of the Gush Etzion, Etzion bloc of the West Ban ...
. He did his national service in the
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
, attaining the rank of
Corporal Corporal is a military rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The rank is usually the lowest ranking non-commissioned officer. In some militaries, the rank of corporal nominally corr ...
.


Political career


Early career

Initially a member of the
National Religious Party The National Religious Party (, ''Miflaga Datit Leumit''), commonly known in Israel by its Hebrew abbreviation Mafdal (), was an Israeli political party representing the interests of the Israeli settlers and religious Zionist movement. Formed ...
and a vice-president of the Zionist Forum, Edelstein founded the
Yisrael BaAliyah Yisrael BaAliyah (, ) was a political party in Israel between its formation in 1996 and its merger into Likud in 2003. It was formed to represent the interests of Russian immigrants by former refuseniks Natan Sharansky and Yuli-Yoel Edelstein. ...
party together with fellow Soviet dissident
Natan Sharansky Natan Sharansky (; born 20 January 1948) is an Israeli politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as Chairman of the Executive for the Jewish Agency for Israel, Jewish Agency from June 2009 to August 2018, and currently serves as ...
. He was elected to the Knesset in
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
, and was appointed Minister of Immigrant Absorption in
Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin Netanyahu (born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who has served as the prime minister of Israel since 2022, having previously held the office from 1996 to 1999 and from 2009 to 2021. Netanyahu is the longest-serving prime min ...
's
Likud Likud (, ), officially known as Likud – National Liberal Movement (), is a major Right-wing politics, right-wing, political party in Israel. It was founded in 1973 by Menachem Begin and Ariel Sharon in an alliance with several right-wing par ...
-led
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...
. The long-term project of subsidizing housing for elderly migrants prepared by the ministry under his supervision and cooperation with the Ministry of Construction raised controversy over expenditures overrun incurred by the project. Edelstein claimed that the investigative commission found such claims unsubstantiated. He was re-elected in
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
, and was appointed Deputy Immigrant Absorption Minister by
Ariel Sharon Ariel Sharon ( ; also known by his diminutive Arik, ; 26 February 192811 January 2014) was an Israeli general and politician who served as the prime minister of Israel from March 2001 until April 2006. Born in Kfar Malal in Mandatory Palestin ...
in 2001. He retained his seat in the 2003 elections, shortly after which Yisrael BaAliyah merged into Likud. Although Edelstein lost his seat in the 2006 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 for Dan Naveh in February 2007. He retained his seat in the 2009 elections after being placed twelfth on the party's list, and was appointed Minister of Information and Diaspora in the Netanyahu government. He was subsequently re-elected in
2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
after being placed on the eighteenth spot of the Likud Yisrael Beiteinu list.


Speaker of the Knesset

Following the 2013 elections, Edelstein was nominated by Likud Yisrael Beitenu to replace then
Speaker of the Knesset The speaker of the Knesset (, ) is the presiding officer of the Knesset, the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Speaker also acts as President of Israel when the President is incapacitated. The current speaker is Amir Ohana, who ...
Reuven Rivlin Reuven "Ruvi" Rivlin ( ; born 9 September 1939) is an Israeli politician and lawyer who served as the president of Israel between 2014 and 2021. He is a member of the Likud party. Rivlin was Minister of Communications from 2001 to 2003, and su ...
. His nomination was approved by all members of the party's parliamentary caucus excluding Rivlin, who chose to abstain. It was then approved by the Knesset, with 96 members voting in favor and 8 abstaining. Edelstein was sworn in as speaker on 14 March. Edelstein was elected to the third place on the Likud list ahead of the 2015 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. During his tenure as speaker, Edelstein supported the Nation-State Bill. Ahead of the April 2019 election, Edelstein was elected to the second place on the Likud list. After the election, he was re-elected as Speaker, with 101 MKs voting in favor and 4 abstaining. Following the 2020 election, a bloc led by
Benny Gantz Benjamin Gantz ( ; born 9 June 1959) is an Israeli politician and retired army general. He served as a Minister without portfolio#Israel, minister without portfolio from 2023 to 2024, as the Ministry of Defense (Israel), minister of defense bet ...
agreed to replace Edelstein as speaker of the Knesset. Despite this he refused to convene the plenary to vote on his replacement. The
Movement for Quality Government in Israel The Movement for Quality Government in Israel (, ''HaTenu'a Lema'an Ekhut HaShilton BeYisrael'') is a non-profit organization promoting democracy, ethics and good governance in Israel. It is a regular and longstanding petitioner of the Supreme ...
appealed to the
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
, which ordered Edelstein to convene the Knesset. On March 25, Edelstein resigned as speaker to prevent a constitutional crisis. On March 26, a newly formed coalition led by Netanyahu and Gantz elected the latter to be sworn in as the new Knesset Speaker.


After speakership

Following the establishment of the Thirty-fifth government, Edelstein was sworn in as
Minister of Health A health minister is the member of a country's government typically responsible for protecting and promoting public health and providing welfare spending and other social security services. Some governments have separate ministers for mental heal ...
on 17 May 2020, and remained as minister until the Thirty-sixth government was sworn in on 13 June 2021. On 11 October, he announced his intention to challenge Netanyahu for the Leadership of the Likud in the next leadership election. Ahead of the 2022 election, he withdrew from the race, leading to its cancellation due to a lack of candidates. In primaries for the party list held in August, Edelstein was placed on the 18th place on the Likud list and returned back to the
Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
. Since the election of the 25th Knesset, Edelstein has served as Chairman of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.


Statements

In December 2014, in an interview with ''
The Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English language, English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the Mandate for Palestine, British Mandate of Mandatory Palestine, Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''Th ...
'', Edelstein warned world leaders against creating a Palestinian state that he thought would go to war with Israel. 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-Israeli Haneen Zoabi for 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 candidate
Bernie Sanders Bernard Sanders (born September8, 1941) is an American politician and activist who is the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from the state of Vermont. He is the longest-serving independ ...
for 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'. After the Israeli military police in July 2024 visited Sde Teiman detention camp to 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.".


Personal life

After leaving Alon Shvut, Edelstein moved to Neve 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 the Civil Aviation Authority. Tanya and Yuli Edelstein had two children together. In 2014, Tanya died of cancer at the age of 63. In June 2016, Edelstein married Irina Nevzlin, daughter of Russian-Israeli billionaire Leonid Nevzlin, Chair of the Board of Directors of Anu - Museum of the Jewish Peoplebr>
and President of th
NADAV Foundation


References


External links

*
Yuli Edelstein – Web Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Edelstein, Yuli-Yoel 1958 births Living people Bukovina Jews Deputy ministers of Israel Deputy speakers of the Knesset Israeli people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Jewish Israeli politicians Likud politicians Members of the 14th Knesset (1996–1999) Members of the 15th Knesset (1999–2003) Members of the 16th Knesset (2003–2006) Members of the 17th Knesset (2006–2009) Members of the 18th Knesset (2009–2013) Members of the 19th Knesset (2013–2015) Members of the 20th Knesset (2015–2019) Members of the 21st Knesset (2019) Members of the 22nd Knesset (2019–2020) Members of the 25th Knesset (2022–) Naturalized citizens of Israel Refuseniks Political prisoners in former countries Speakers of the Knesset Soviet emigrants to Israel Soviet Jews Ukrainian emigrants to Israel Ukrainian Zionists Yisrael BaAliyah politicians Members of the 23rd Knesset (2020–2021) Ministers of health of Israel Politicians from Chernivtsi People from Alon Shvut