Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein and Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev are at loggerheads after Regev announced Monday that, breaking with tradition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin would give speeches at this year's Independence Day ceremony.
Set to take place on Mount Herzl on April 18, the event ushering in Israel's 70th Independence Day is expected to be the largest, most lavish ceremony to date. More than 1,500 people are expected to participate in the ceremony, including 150 musicians, 400 choir members, 350 dancers and hundreds of flag-bearers, as well leading Israeli artists and performers.
Edelstein said that if he, as Knesset speaker, was not the only government official to speak – as has been the custom for years to keep the event apolitical – neither he nor other invited MKs would attend. He added that the Knesset Guard would boycott the ceremony, as well.
Sources in the Knesset said that Edelstein was furious that Regev wanted to change the program, which has been the same since Israel's inception.
"No prime minister has ever spoken at the [Mount Herzl] ceremony – only the Knesset speaker, and there is no reason to change the tradition this year," associates of Edelstein said.
Regev said she was "very sorry" that Edelstein was "turning the government ceremony into a petty personal battle. Mount Herzl doesn't belong to him, and with all due respect, this is not a personal ceremony, and personal issues should be left off the agenda.
"The Knesset Guard isn't Edelstein's official guard, either. The decision about whether or not to attend the ceremony is the prime minister's, only. As a committee of ministers decided in honor of the 70th Independence Day celebrations, it is appropriate for the prime minister and the president to speak. It will honor the country and the citizens and even the Knesset and its speaker," Regev said.
Edelstein responded by saying that the Independence Day torch-lighting ceremony belonged to everyone in Israel and therefore the Knesset – as the sole representative of the people as a whole – was the only authority entitled to speak for the people, as has been the accepted practice for the past 70 years.
"I regret that the culture minister is making the first attack in the history of the state on a ceremony that is a pure, beautiful expression of the people of Israel and Israeli-ness. The torch-lighting ceremony is one of our loveliest, most unifying traditions, and anyone who attacks it will deal a blow to one of the most beautiful and moving pillars of our society," Edelstein said.
