New MKs learn the ropes at Knesset orientation

Edelstein to be reinstated as speaker at inaugural meeting of the 20th Knesset Tuesday.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Knesset2 (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Knesset2
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Soon-to-be legislators learned about the Knesset’s committees, proposing bills, asking parliamentary questions, ordering research and more at orientation for the 20th Knesset Sunday.
“Soon, you will learn what a great influence you can have on people’s lives,” Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein told the new MKs. “You could be idle in the Knesset, but not many people like that were elected a second time. Everything depends on the public responsibility and personal motivation of each and every one of you.”
MK Amir Peretz (Zionist Union), the veteran MK who became a legislator in 1988, said “there is no work more enjoyable and exciting than parliamentary work.
“You are here to change reality,” Peretz declared. “We went through a stormy election season, and now we all have to work toward unity.
Cooperation between MKs from all the factions is necessary if you want to succeed.”
Knesset Secretary Yardena Meller-Horowitz explained to the MKs-to-be how to do their day-to-day work before their swearing in Tuesday, and they took part in a tour of the building and the plenum.
Meller-Horowitz said her goal is to make sure the new lawmakers can do their job as fully as possible and that she sees each new Knesset as an opportunity to improve on the last one.
At least one of the 39 new MKs did not attend the orientation – Joint List chairman Ayman Odeh took part in a march in support of authorizing unrecognized Beduin villages.
Also Sunday, Peretz agreed to the Likud’s plan to vote Edelstein in for a second consecutive term as Knesset speaker during Tuesday’s inaugural meeting.
As the veteran MK, Peretz will be the interim speaker who will preside over the new MKs’ oaths of office and the vote to confirm Edelstein’s appointment.