During the knesset plenum‘s sitting on Monday, MK Adi Ezuz (Yesh Atid) delivered her inaugural speech in the plenum. MK Ezuz said, “I will say from the start of my statements, I am here on behalf of Israeli society. This podium is not mine. This House is not my private home and it is not the private home of anyone else. This is the House of the Israeli public as a whole, with all its hues. This microphone is a tool for me to sound the voice of a large population that seeks a different reality, a better reality.
“My life experiences shaped my adult identity and my areas of interest. All my adult life, I acted from a sense of commitment to lead a change in the field of sexual violence. As a feminist activist, I led the ‘Women Pursue Justice’ protest against lenient and minimal sentencing in sexual violence offenses. It’s clear to me that if there is a reform that needs to be passed in the justice system it is in the field of sexual violence, and I will deal with that in the current session.
“I bring with me extensive experience in grassroots work on women’s rights and advancement of people with disabilities. I am here to amplify the voice of women who are victims of violence, and to advance parliamentary work that will ensure in-depth treatment of the issue. There are solutions and it’s possible to cope [with the issue], we only need to choose to cope with it.
“I don’t know how it feels after many years in this House, but I know how it feels to be here for the first time, to stand on this dais and feel the weight of responsibility on one’s shoulders—the responsibility for the words, the right and duty to continue to sound from here the voices of those whom I represented before coming to the Knesset, and to remember all the time that this podium is a means and not an end. Everything that comes from here must be for the service of the public, not for the service of oneself.
“The life of Israel’s citizens today is extraordinarily complex in every possible field. Everything here is difficult, and it appears that polarization and hatred of the other are constantly present in the discourse, and this not does not appear in a vacuum. We can engage in incisive debates, that is part of the meaning of a vibrant democracy, but we cannot use language that is unbefitting of the place. Violence is a continuum and it begins with us in this House. We have a great deal of power, and we must behave responsibly. Unity is not something that is said, it is something that is done,” said MK Ezuz.
Related Topics
