Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein has climbed up a very high ladder and is yet to find a method to make his way back down. The issue is one of kovod at the official Independence Day 70th Anniversary Torch Lighting Ceremony.

Edelstein has announced via the media that if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and/or President Reuven Rivlin are invited to address the event, he will boycott it and not prevent the Knesset Guard or other Knesset affiliates participate.

Minister of Culture & Sports (Likud) Miri Regev is responsible for organizing the event and determining who is invited to speak. He initially responded, “It saddens me that the Knesset speaker turns the state ceremony into a personal and petty quarrel. Mount Herzl is not a private estate, and with all due respect, it is not a personal ceremony, and personal matters must be removed from the agenda. The Knesset guard, too, is not Edelstein’s royal guard. The decision whether to attend the ceremony is solely for the prime minister. As was decided by the Ministerial Committee in honor of the 70th anniversary, it is true that the President of the State, the Prime Minister and world heads of state will speak at the ceremony. This will respect the state, the citizens, and even the Knesset and its leader.”

Regev has continued firing back at Edelstein, with no sign of backing down, questioning how he dares to decide who may and may not address the forum, and he feels he along can address the forum for this milestone, the nation’s 70th birthday.

Edelstein has not shown any sign of backing down, and for now, PM Netanyahu and President Rivlin are still scheduled to speak.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)