Speaking at a closed conference organized by the Israel Democracy Institute on Feb. 15, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein sounded resolute and confident, saying he was opposed to the suspension bill being promoted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “As long as I am speaker of the house, this bill will not be sponsored,” Edelstein said. This legislation comes in response to the outcry following the visit Balad Party lawmakers (of the Arab party Joint List) paid to the families of terrorists from East Jerusalem earlier in February. The proposed bill aims at suspending serving legislators for “conduct unbecoming of their status as Knesset members.”

Edelstein’s position justly grabbed the media’s attention. He was the first and only Likud Party Knesset member to oppose the bill initiated and promoted by the premier. President Reuven Rivlin — himself a Likud diehard — lambasted the dangerous bill, which he said “reflects a problematic understanding of what democracy is all about.” However, he is no longer a Knesset member and therefore not bound by the prime minister or Likud voters.

To Rivlin's credit it should be noted that even when he served as Knesset speaker on behalf of the Likud, he showed loyalty to liberalism principles. In 2011, for instance, he voted against a bill proposed by Netanyahu, thus defying the imposed unanimous vote by the coalition. The “anti-libel bill” (dubbed in Israeli media as the “silencing bill”) proposed to increase sixfold the limit on compensation for libelous reports, from 50,000 shekels to 300,000 shekels (from $12,000 to $77,000). Rivlin warned that such a law would harm freedom of speech and might damage irreversibly the media market, thus causing newspapers to shut down.

It is for these reasons that the position espoused by Edelstein — until recently a resident of one of the settlements in the West Bank — sounded both refreshing and brave. Barely a day passed before the speaker of the house changed his mind and declared that he supports suspending lawmakers who openly and consistently incite racism or openly support terrorism and terrorists. Edelstein claimed that he has been consistent in his position, expressing reservations pertaining only to certain points in the proposed bill. Either way, once his objection was lifted, the road was paved to further the law in the Constitution Committee. Over the past couple of days, both the committee’s chairman, Knesset member Nissan Slomiansky, and the house speaker got phone calls from Netanyahu, who is currently in Berlin. The prime minister guaranteed them that the bill’s new wording will secure the necessary majority in order for the Knesset plenary to carry it.