Edelstein says he’s proud of standing by his values after ouster from top committee

Responding to his removal from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after bucking party discipline to vote in favor of a West Bank settlement annexation bill, Likud MK Yuli Edelstein states that “the public already knows that my word is my word.”

“If my entire sin was that I kept to the right on [the issue of] the Land of Israel and voted in favor of applying sovereignty to Judea and Samaria, then I am proud of that. Just as I am proud that I prevented [Haredi draft] evasion and that I am fighting for genuine ultra-Orthodox conscription,” the veteran lawmaker says in a statement.

“Even outside the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, I will continue to fight for equal conscription and for the Land of Israel. Any such dismissal is a moral badge of honor for me. Anyone who thinks that this deters me is greatly mistaken,” he adds.

Asked for comment, Likud MK Tally Gotliv, an alternate member of the committee who sometimes takes part in votes, backs Edelstein’s ouster.

“Ultimately, the ruling party has coalition discipline. Fortunately, we were given the option not to vote against [the bill], but to abstain from voting. Yuli Edelstein, for political reasons, decided to vote against the party’s position,” she tells The Times of Israel.

“He wanted to win political capital, and there is a sanction for that. The sanction is that he will not be on the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee — and I received sanctions for much less than that, by the way.”