Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein have reached an agreement on the program for the Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl, which became the subject of controversy this year after Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev broke with tradition and invited Netanyahu to be the first sitting prime minister to speak at the traditionally nonpolitical ceremony.
Edelstein argued that only the Knesset, as a body that represents the entire population, should have official representation at the ceremony. Edelstein threatened to stay away from the event and order all Knesset members and staffers to do the same.
The agreement calls for Netanyahu to light one of the torches in the name of the Israeli governments of the past 70 years and will give a speech about Israel's Declaration of Independence.
Netanyahu and Edelstein also agreed that Regev would convene the Ministerial Committee on Ceremonies and Symbols to discuss having a sitting prime minister light one of the Independence Day torches once a decade.
"I'm happy that reason and officialdom overcame personal considerations and that the prime minister will participate in the torch-lighting ceremony, speak, and even light a torch in honor of Israel. I intend to arrange for a prime minister to light a torch honoring Israel's governments once every 10 years," Regev said.
