Yuli-Yoel Edelstein, born on August 5, 1958, in Chernihiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union, into a Jewish family with scholarly parents, was one of the Soviet Union's most prominent refuseniks. He engaged in Zionist activism and Hebrew teaching, leading to his arrest in 1984 and imprisonment in a Siberian labor camp until 1987 for alleged anti-Soviet activities. After his release, he immigrated to Israel, where he initially worked as an educator and tour guide before entering politics with the Likud party. Elected to the Knesset in 1996, he served as Minister of Immigrant Absorption (1996-1999), Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Minister of Information and Diaspora Affairs (2009-2013). He briefly held the Health Minister portfolio from 2020 to 2021 amid the COVID-19 pandemic and was Speaker of the Knesset until his resignation on March 25, 2020, amid political deadlock. He chaired the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee from 2022 to 2025.