Entering election year, Edelstein says he won’t let Knesset become a ‘circus’

Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein opens the winter Knesset session.

He says there have been “question marks in the media whether this is the last session of the 20th Knesset,” adding jokingly that whether or not there are early elections, this officially marks the final Knesset session (which includes the spring sitting through the end of the summer) for this government, which is set to go to elections in November 2019.

He urges lawmakers not to slack off during this final Knesset period before elections and continue to work on behalf of Israel’s disadvantaged and the embattled communities in Israel’s south. Edelstein says this “is not the time” to advance frivolous laws, or give “extreme” speeches in the plenum.

“On my watch,” and despite it being an election year, the Knesset “won’t turn into a market or a circus,” adds Edelstein, adding that he won’t hesitate to sanction MKs who misbehave.

Ahead of local elections on October 30, Edelstein condemns divisive campaigns nationwide, “campaigns that are based on hatred of the foreigner and hatred of the Other.”

“End the incitement,” he says.