GOVERNMENT

Yuli Edelstein

Politician

The former speaker of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament, Yuli Edelstein was appointed as Israel’s Minister of Health as the coronavirus pandemic was reaching its initial peak in 2020. Explaining his approach to the pandemic, Edelstein has said that “Our goal is to enable maximum freedom with minimal danger to public health.” A former Prisoner of Zion, Edelstein was born in the Soviet Union in 1958. After being forbidden to make Aliyah to Israel in 1979, Edelstein spent three years in a forced labor camp, eventually emigrating to the Jewish state in 1987. He entered the Knesset for the first time in 1996 and has held various key roles, including as Israel’s Minister for Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)