Yuli Edelstein

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Yuli Edelstein
Speaker of the Knesset
Personal details
Born
Yulian Yur'evich Edelshtein
(Юлиан Юрьевич Эдельштейн}

(1958-08-05) 5 August 1958 (age 65)
Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Spouse(s)Tatiana Freivort (d. 2014)
Irina Nevzlin
Children2
Residence(s)Neve Daniel, West Bank
EducationMoscow Pedagogical Institute (expelled)

Yuli-Yoel Edelstein (

Speaker of the Knesset from 2013 until his resignation on 25 March 2020.[2]

Early life

Edelstein's prison release record from the Moscow MVD, 1987

Yuli Edelstein was born in

Hebrew 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.[5]

In 1977, during his second year of university, Edelstein applied for an exit visa to emigrate to 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 was refusenik Alexander 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 the KGB and 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 to Siberian penal colonies and did hard labor, first in Buryatia and then in Novosibirsk. He broke several bones after falling from a construction tower. He was due to be transferred back to Buryatia, but his wife, Tanya, threatened to go on hunger strike if he was returned there.[14]

Edelstein was released in May 1987,

Israeli Independence Day, the next to last of the refuseniks to be freed.[5] He then emigrated to Israel, moving to the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut. He did his national service in the Israel Defense Forces, attaining the rank of Corporal.[15]

Political career

Early career

Edelstein as Information Minister, briefing reporters at site of Hamas rocket attack, 2012

Initially a member of the

1999, and was appointed Deputy Immigrant Absorption Minister by Ariel Sharon in 2001.[17]

He retained his seat in the

Minister of Information and Diaspora in the Netanyahu government.[18] He was subsequently re-elected in 2013 after being placed on the eighteenth spot of the Likud Yisrael Beiteinu list.[19]

Speaker of the Knesset