Edelstein invites Netanyahu to the podium

Edelstein is recalling the period when he was held prisoner in a Soviet work camp for the crime of seeking to immigrate to Israel. He is talking about the day when he was set free. He didn’t know the Hebrew date — they didn’t used to give that out at the work camps, he jokes. It turned out to be the fifth of Iyar — Israel’s independence day.

He tells the listening MKs that they’ve all made their particular ways to the government, all have their personal stories, all came via different paths. But all are here, he says, “to correct things” — to make things better. “My request of you: Let’s not forget… even as we correct what needs to be fixed… that if it were not for the 5th of Iyar… my life and the lives of millions of Israelis… would be so different.”

Edelstein now invites Netanyahu to present his government and its platform.