Preparations underway for Zelensky Knesset speech, amid fears of low MK turnout
Tech personnel are working to ensure a secure connection and allow lawmakers to connect remotely; speech will also be broadcast live in central Tel Aviv square
The Knesset has begun preparations for a live video address Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will deliver to Israeli lawmakers on Sunday.
The lead-up to the speech has been fraught, as Israel seeks to avoid embarrassment and controversy, and Russia tries to preempt Zelensky’s comments with its own views.
The speech is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sunday. The preparations have been complicated because the Knesset is in recess, many lawmakers are traveling, and the building is undergoing renovations.
A special situation room has been set up in the Knesset complex in Jerusalem to handle the broadcast, Channel 12 reported on Thursday.
The speech will be shown at the Knesset, and lawmakers will be able to tune in from any location, but have been asked to be respectful in their appearances. Their microphones will be muted.
All Knesset members and ministers have been invited to tune in. Efforts are underway to ensure that as many MKs as possible will attend the special session, even though the Knesset is in recess.
It is hoped that by holding the event over Zoom, lawmakers who are abroad on delegations will be able to attend.
Dozens of tech workers and service personnel will be involved in the operation to make sure it goes smoothly and to help lawmakers connect remotely. Party administrators will verify lawmakers’ identities to allow them to tune in.
The connection will be thoroughly vetted and monitored to ensure a secure link and prevent any embarrassments, and dozens of computers, screens, and other technological implements will be involved in carrying out tests.
Zelensky’s address will be broadcast on a large screen in the Knesset building itself with an accompanying sound system, Channel 12 said.
Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy will host the event. Levy will deliver an opening speech from a committee room, and will make a closing statement after Zelensky’s speech.
Haaretz reported on Wednesday that Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will both attend.
The speech will be screened simultaneously on a large screen at Tel Aviv’s Habima Square for the public to watch. Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai said he had suggested the idea to the Ukrainian embassy.
Zelensky has spoken to other groups of lawmakers around the world to drum up support, including the US and UK, but Israel has attempted to remain somewhat neutral in the war, with Lapid repeatedly condemning the Russian invasion but Bennett refraining from doing so.
Russian Ambassador to Israel Anatoly Viktorov has reportedly sought to brief lawmakers ahead of the speech, in an attempt to present Moscow’s “perspective.”
Kan news reported that Viktorov, who met Wednesday with Levy, asked him to allow Russian lawmakers to brief their Israeli counterparts before Zelensky’s speech.
Viktorov told Levy that Knesset members should first receive “the Russian perspective, and [the Russian] take on current events,” Kan reported.
As of Thursday evening, it did not appear that such a briefing was in the cards. An affirmative response would likely bring intense criticism from Ukraine, and potentially other countries.
Levy said Wednesday: “It will be an honor for me and the Knesset to host President Zelensky’s address… at this difficult time facing the Ukrainian people.”
Zelensky had initially sought to give a more formal virtual address before the Knesset plenum, but the request was denied by Levy, who explained that the parliament would not be able to hold such a session while in recess.
Critics said Jerusalem’s decision was motivated by an unwillingness to be seen siding too closely with Ukraine as it seeks to maintain working ties with Russia and Bennett tries to mediate between Moscow and Kyiv.
Israel is reliant on coordination with Russia to carry out military strikes in Syria against Iranian proxies there.
Ukrainian MP Olga Vasilevskaya-Smaglyuk said Wednesday that during his Knesset address, Zelensky will invoke his Jewishness, as well as liken his country’s struggle to fight off Russia’s invasion to World War II and Nazi Germany.
