The Likud has decided to remove MK Yuli Edelstein from the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee after he violated party discipline to vote in favor of the bill to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria in its preliminary reading.
Responding to his removal, Edelstein stated, "The public already understands that I stand by my word. If my only ‘sin’ was standing by the Land of Israel and voting in favor of applying sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, then I am proud of it. Just as I am proud that I acted to prevent draft evasion, and that I am fighting for genuine enlistment of the haredim. Even outside the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, I will continue to fight for equal conscription and for the Land of Israel. Every such dismissal is, for me, a moral badge of honor. Anyone who thinks this will deter me is gravely mistaken."
Likud party officials criticized the bill, saying it was "trolling by the opposition that aims to harm our relationship with the United States and Israel's great achievements in the war."
“The settlement enterprise is being strengthened every day through actions, budgets, construction, and industry - not through words. True sovereignty will not be achieved by a symbolic law for the record, but through proper work on the ground and by creating the political conditions for recognition of our sovereignty, as was done in the Golan Heights and in Jerusalem,” the Likud statement said.
MK Edelstein responded to his party: "As far as I'm concerned, the Land of Israel is not 'political trolling,' it is the guarantee for our existence here. I am proud that I voted for the application of sovereignty in Judea and Samaria. It is imperative."