Coming Full Circle: Speaker Of The Knesset Addresses Russian Parliament In Hebrew

Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Eidelstein addressed the Russian parliament in Moscow today (Wednesday). EIdelstain began his historic speech to the upper house of Parliament, in Hebrew; a language he was jailed for teaching, in the past.

Eidelstein was born in the former USSR, and in 1979 requested a permit to emigrate to Israel. The permit was refused, and Eidelstein went on to covertly teach Hebrew and other Jewish practices to fellow Russian Jews.

In 1984 Eidelstein was arrested and sentenced to a Siberian labor camp, where he was forced to work for nearly 3 years. After being released he moved to Israel, and in 2013 he accepted the post of Knesset speaker, where he serves till this day.
Standing at podium in front of the Russian parliament, Eidelstein greeted the politicians with a formal, “Shalom Aleichem”.

Eidelstein went on to explain the Jewish connection to Israel and asked the Russian lawmakers to tackle the “absolute evil of the 21st century” Islamic extremism.
He pointed out that during the early 1900s the “absolute evil” in the world was Nazi Germany, and today it’s Islamic extremism.

The speaker of the Knesset also encouraged the Russian officials to create, “an atmosphere of mutual respect between different countries”.

Despite the well-known connection between the Russians and the Iranians, Eidelstien also outlined the threats facing Israel from Hamas and Hezbollah which are backed by Iran.

“Behind Hezbollah and Hamas stands Iran, which aspires for regional expansion and spreads its ideologies of hatred of mankind; which threaten all the nations of the world” said Eidelstein.

As part of his visit to Moscow, Eidelstein will take a nostalgic tour around the city, including a stop to the Russian prison cell where he was detained for months before being sent to Siberia.

Eidelstein is on an official 3 day visit to Moscow at the invitation of ‘Federation council chairwomen’ Valentena Matviyenko.

(‘Times Of Israel’ contributed to this story)

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