MK Yuli (Yoel) Edelstein spoke to Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about the new political party he is working to establish, aimed at representing hundreds of thousands of right-wing voters who, he says, feel politically homeless.
“We are right now in the midst of an attempt to organize a political party that would answer the real need of, I would estimate, hundreds of thousands of potential voters who are, on the one hand, holding what is defined in this country as right-wing views - the Land of Israel is important to them. A free economy is important to them. Judicial reform is important to them. But they are not prepared to vote for the present coalition because of the draft exemption legislation and because of the oversized influence of different coalition partners, especially haredi bodies," says MK Edelstein.
MK Edelstein refutes the claim that he is against the world of Torah. “I think, actually, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I'm trying to save the world of Torah. Because whoever lives in Israel sees what's going on, and in the end, if the situation continues like that - meaning that no haredim will be drafted into the army, while at the same time they receive serious economic support from the state, and every reasonable person understands that it is not the case that every young haredi man is studying 10 or 15 hours a day in the yeshiva - eventually there will be a government that would, I would say, start a very marginal policy toward the haredi community, and as a result could ruin the world of Torah and could ruin the yeshiva world."
“That’s why I’m trying all the time to come up with practical solutions for the issue, and never at any stage have I suggested that we immediately draft everyone or close yeshivas or something like that," says MK Edelstein. “There are tens of thousands of haredi youth, as we speak, at this very moment, who are not in the world of the yeshiva in practical terms, and they could and should be drafted, and many of them even want to be drafted."
He continued to claim that “sometimes it’s about the leadership. But in many places that I would go to, even at weddings or when paying condolence calls, I was very tense. I thought that when I would come into a hall like that, in an audience like that, I would feel the hostility, I would feel the tension.
“And the first time, the second time, and the third time, the exact opposite happened. People would approach me and say, ‘We want you to succeed.’"
“So I know it’s not an opinion poll, but empirically it’s a good test that there is what they call the ‘asuna,’ the leadership of the haredi community, and at the same time many people are just waiting for a change in the situation in order to become more integrated into society."
On his friends’ opinions in the Likud, as well as Prime Minister Netanyahu, MK Edelstein says, “It’s all about politics. I think it’s all about politics, but I really can’t speak for them because it’s very difficult and very painful for me to try to understand what happens to people. I remember them standing together with me on different podiums and stages and talking about the same values and talking about the same issues. But now, when there’s a demand to vote for massive draft exemptions, they vote, and when there’s a demand not to support sovereignty in Judea and Samaria, they run out of the hall. This is something that, as I’ve said, is very painful, not just difficult to explain."
On his new party, MK Edelstein says that “the left wing says that we are proxies of Netanyahu and that he invited us to be his coalition partners after the elections. But we are not hiding the truth. We speak the truth. The truth is that what the country badly needs is a broad Zionist government. A broad Zionist government can be formed only with the participation of Likud and Religious Zionism.
“But at the same time," he continued, “it can’t be overdependent on haredi factions or marginal factions. I think that only a broad government can take real care of the issues that are so important to the Right."
MK Edelstein says that he does not oppose a government led by Netanyahu, but “the party that I will be part of, or that I will lead, whatever happens, will not be, as they say in the Knesset, the 61st finger of any coalition, because any narrow government - never mind who is heading it and never mind how talented the person who is heading it is - every narrow government will be a big trouble for the State of Israel. It won’t last long and it won’t be able to take care of issues."
He adds that after October 7 there was a feeling, and even dialogue, that the haredim would understand and that they would be with us, but it did not happen. This was very disappointing on a personal level. Though objectively speaking, I understand that the government was too slow, occupied with other issues, and the army was too slow because there was this spirit probably for a week, two weeks, three weeks, but then nothing happened.
“After October 7, as a former chair of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, I immediately started checking what we should be doing in order for October 7 not to happen in Judea and Samaria. We were in real danger. The young men were all taken for reserve duty. In many communities, only women and children were staying there. So it turned out that in many haredi towns and communities in Judea and Samaria, it was impossible to form any kind of local self-defense force because, excluding a few, no one knew how to operate an M16 rifle. This was a real challenge and a real problem."
“This is part of our motivation to make sure that haredi youth, especially in Judea and Samaria but not only there, get military training, serve in the army, and will be able to defend themselves and their families."
“It’s not about total equality, but it’s about sharing the burden and about the possibility of giving people who are serving for 400, 500, 600 days in miluim at least the opportunity to see their families and their children once in a while. It’s about sharing the burden."
MK Edelstein, who served as Minister of Diaspora Affairs, commented on the role of the Jewish Diaspora and its relationship with Israel, saying, “It goes both ways. On the one hand, after October 7, we received incredible support from the Jewish Diaspora all around the world. Unfortunately, among Jews around the world are those who have totally lost their way, or their mind, or whatever you call it, and are part of all these Jews for Palestine movements and this unexplainable self-hating approach. Some would say also the support for Mamdani, among other things.
“But they need us. They need to feel the connection to the State of Israel. Sometimes we are too busy with things inside, and we just expect that they will help us and express solidarity with us, and that we don’t have to do anything. But that’s not the way. I’m sure that we will be able to strengthen the connection there."