Knesset Speaker Edelstein Threatens To Boycott Independence Day Torch Lighting Ceremony

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein is threatening to boycott the Independence Day torch lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl if Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addresses the event.

According to a news report, Edelstein held a meeting this week with the heads of the producers of the torchlight ceremony, which will take place in about three weeks to mark Israel’s 70th Independence Day. And gave them a message that if Netanyahu or the president were invited to speak – he would boycott the event.

“I am telling you that if the Prime Minister or the President of the State are invited to speak at the ceremony, I and the entire Knesset will boycott the event,” said the Speaker of the Knesset, “I will not speak, the Knesset Guard will not participate, and the entire Knesset participates in organizing the ceremony,: he said.

Minister of Culture & Sports Miri Regev responded to Edelstein’s remarks and said, “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.”

Edelstein himself responded to Regev’s remarks, saying that “the torch lighting ceremony is a ceremony for all the citizens of the State of Israel, and therefore the Knesset, which represents all parts of the people, is the only authority that can give expression to this, “The ceremony at the torchlight ceremony is one of our beautiful and united traditions and this will be harmed – it will sabotage one of the most beautiful and exciting Israeli values we have.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)