Edelstein says democratic process will only return ‘when we’re prepared for it’

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein says the country’s “democratic process and parliamentary oversight” will only return when “we are prepared for it,” referring to his decision to shutter the Knesset over what he says were concerns about the coronavirus.

Edelstein’s comment comes after his shocking announcement that he was locking the plenary after his Likud and its rival the Blue and White party failed to reach a compromise on the formation of Knesset committees.

“I’ve been spending no small number of hours yesterday and today trying to reach an agreement between the factions. I offered a compromise that I thought could ‘press start’ on the Knesset’s work now, even at this very moment,” he says.

Edelstein, who was widely panned by those outside the Likud-led government, says the Knesset will only reopen next Monday at the earliest.

A number of Knesset members have been forced into quarantine after coming into contact with a confirmed carrier of the disease.

“It also isn’t nice for me to see Knesset members who can’t come into the plenary, but these are the directives. Without a doubt, all the democratic process and parliamentary process will take place the moment we are prepared for it. I don’t intend to drag this matter out,” he says.