Yuli Edelstein

Yuli Edelstein was born in the Ukraine in 1958, and early on became an activist for freedom to learn the Hebrew language In 1984 he was arrested on a fabricated case and spent 3 and a half years in a labor camp in difficult conditions, where he was permanently injured In 1987 he was released and allowed to immigrate to Israel.

In Israel he became active in politics, founding the Yisrael BaAliyah party together with fellow former Prisoner of Zion Nathan Sharansky. After serving as Vice President of the Zionist Forum in Israel, he was elected to the Knesset in 1996, he was appointed Minister of Immigrant Absorption in Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud-led government and later, Deputy Immigrant Absorption Minister in 2001.

He was re-elected in the 2003 elections. When Yisrael BaAliyah merged with the Likud in the 2006 elections, Edelstein lost his seat, but later re-entered the Knesset as a replacement for Dan Naveh in February 2007.

Among his recent parliamentary activities are his position as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and his membership in the House Committee; Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs; and Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on the Claims Commission.

The father of two, he lives in the settlement of Neve Daniel in Judea.

 Source - Wikipedia

For more on Knesset website click here