MK Yuli Edelstein on national agenda: 'The IDF needs to change their tune'

MK Yuli Edelstein, Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman addressed issues on the national agenda in an interview with Maariv on Monday. In conversation with Anna Barsky, Edelstein discussed the ongoing conflict in Lebanon and Gaza, as well as the haredi draft controversy threatening the coalition's future.

"I can't identify any movement from the ultra-Orthodox sector," Edelstein claimed regarding the draft law. According to him, the ultra-Orthodox leadership must change their tune and think about "how to recruit the maximum number of people while preserving the Torah world, those yeshiva students who you'll truly find studying in the study hall at 1 AM." Edelstein emphasized that the IDF must also present a more creative plan to draft those who refuse. 

"The IDF needs to [change their tune], and not say in the same sentence 'we need at least ten thousand soldiers immediately' or 'we'll take three thousand from the ultra-Orthodox.' I still don't understand from which moon these additional seven thousand soldiers have fallen."

"Between passing a bad law that perpetuates the current situation and essentially makes reservists, their families, and their bosses at work feel like suckers, and simply not passing a law - I prefer the second option," Edelstein stated.

Gaza hostages and settlement controversy

Regarding the hostages, Edelstein claimed, "We cannot talk about victory without returning the hostages. A heroic operation in the style of Entebbe is impossible under these conditions. There were several exceptional operations, there were several more operations that were planned but not carried out because for operational reasons they could not be executed."

Regarding negotiations, Edelstein criticized the public conduct and protests for hostage release, saying, "It's like if I send my lawyer to negotiate selling an apartment, and while he's on his way I call potential buyers and say 'my lawyer will come now and ask for a million dollars but we can manage with three hundred and fifty thousand.' This is the worst thing that could happen and it really endangers the hostages' lives."

Edelstein expressed his support for establishing a state commission of inquiry and declared he would "definitely not" submit documents to any other committee. 

"We oversee the government. By what right would we hand over materials to the same government we supervise? It's as if the Shin Bet started investigating and demanded we hand over our documents and testimonies. We oversee the Shin Bet, we're not subordinate to it."

Regarding Gaza's future, Edelstein described a gradual plan, "Now after all the operations along the entire Strip, including the many successes in the southern Strip in Rafah, now there's already a possibility in northern Gaza to clear certain areas of terrorists and try to introduce some alternative."

Edelstein then rejected the possibility of the Palestinian Authority managing the Strip, stating, "From a professional perspective, it's clear the Palestinian Authority doesn't know how to govern even in Judea and Samaria. Even an armed international force won't enter to lose people as long as Hamas is the controlling factor in the area."

Further, Edelstein expressed skepticism about an immediate return to settlement in Gaza, "I'm not sure we're currently in a position to lead on this matter of returning settlement. People who very much want to return to Gush Katif are fighting in Gaza, and also people who tell themselves and others that if your foolish idea of returning and conquering Gaza exists, then we don't understand at all what we're fighting for."

He concluded the interview by quoting Admiral Nelson before the Battle of Trafalgar, saying, "Let every man remember his duty - everyone should remember their role... all the politics and all the planning we'll do afterward."