Yuli Edelstein was born in Chernivtsi in the Soviet Union to a Jewish family. His mother, Anita Edelstein, was Jewish, while his father, Yuri Edelstein, is the son of a Jewish father and Christian mother. Both converted to Christianity, and Yuri is now a Russian Orthodox priest in Karabanovo of Kostroma Oblast named Father Georgy. While his parents taught at universities in the countryside, Edelstein was raised by his maternal grandparents. His grandfather had taught himself Hebrew at the age of 70 and used to listen to the Voice of Israel on a shortwave radio. When Edelstein's grandfather died, Yuli began to study Hebrew and read books such as Exodus by Leon Uris, which inspired him. In 1977, during his second year of university, Edelstein applied for an exit visa to immigrate to Israel. Turned down, he began to associate with a small group of Hebrew teachers who held classes in their apartments. One of Edelstein's students was refusenikAlexander Smukler. In 1979, he was expelled from the university and suffered harassment by the KGB and local police. During this time, he found odd jobs as a street cleaner, security guard, and more. In 1984, he and other Hebrew teachers were arrested on fabricated charges, Edelstein himself being charged with possession of drugs, and sentenced to three years. He was then sent to Siberian penal colonies and did hard labor, first in Buryatia and then in Novosibirsk. He broke several bones after falling from a construction tower. He was due to be transferred back to Buryatia, but his wife, Tanya, threatened to go on hunger strike if he was returned there. Edelstein was released in May 1987, on the eve of Israeli Independence Day, the next to last of the refuseniks to be freed. He then immigrated to Israel, moving to the West Bank settlement of Alon Shvut. He did his national service in the Israel Defense Forces, attaining the rank of Corporal.
In December 2014, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, Edelstein warned world leaders against creating a Palestinian state that he thought would go to war with Israel. In the same interview, Edelstein stated that he believes in Israeli-Palestinian coexistence. In 2014, he was one of several Members of the Knesset who submitted complaints against Arab-Israeli Haneen Zoabi for supporting Hamas, which led to her six-month suspension. "I have been in the Knesset for almost 19 years," Edelstein said. "I remember Arab MKs joining me at the March of the Living and proposing social-oriented legislation with me. That is definitely not Zoabi. I believe in coexistence and fighting against those who harm it and I think that Zoabi’s words and actions hurt coexistence. People hear her and think all Arabs must hate us and want to kill us. That is unhealthy, and we have to put an end to it.” Edelstein criticized Jewish U.S. presidential candidateBernie Sanders for saying that U.S. military aid to Israel should instead be diverted toward humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Edelstein said that Sanders should 'stop talking nonsense'.
Personal life
After leaving Alon Shvut, Edelstein moved to Neve Daniel, another West Bank settlement. He was married to Tatiana Edelstein, who was a Zionist activist, for 33 years. They met in the Soviet Union when she attended a Hebrew class he was teaching. After immigrating to Israel, she worked as a civil engineer at the Civil Aviation Authority. Tanya and Yuli Edelstein had two children together. In 2014, Tanya died of cancer at the age of 63. In June 2016, Edelstein married Irina Nevzlin, chair of the board of directors of The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot and President of the NADAV Foundation.
Criticism
The long-term project of subsidizing housing for elderly migrants prepared by Israel Ministry of Absorption under his supervision and cooperation with Ministry of Construction raised controversy over expenditures overrun incurred by the project. Edelstein claimed that the investigative commission found such claims unsubstantiated. His attempts to wait with the new Knesset Speaker vote to after the coalition talks, following the 23rd Knesset election of 2020. When the Israeli Supreme Court ordered him to hold the vote. Edelstein decided to resign instead of fulfilling the order, for which he was harshly criticized.
