Edelstein says next Knesset to focus on economic issues

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein addresses the crowd at Mount Herzl.

He says the location at the military cemetery reflects “price of blood we didn’t stop for a moment from paying.”

The Speaker praises the strength of the Israeli home front during the summer war, but says that this year more people have been questioning whether life in Israel is too hard to bear.

“There is no room for this kind of discourse,” he says.

Edelstein says that economic issues are important, and will be addressed in the upcoming Knesset, but asks — since when has living in Israel been a matter of checks and balances?

He says the election brought to light fractures in Israeli society. During the election, it was “us or them,” he says.

We must leave here saying, “It’s us, all of us,” he says. “In my eyes, everyone is equal,” he says.

The Knesset speaker urges Israelis to get rid of its prejudices.

He lights the first torch.