Eisenkot, Lapid fume after Smotrich defends soldiers who refused to serve with female paramedic

Yashar chair and election frontrunner Gadi Eisenkot responds to Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s support for 16 soldiers sentenced to prison time yesterday for refusing to enter combat in an ATV with a female paramedic.

“This isn’t the first time Smotrich has called for refusal,” the Yashar chief writes on X, noting Smotrich’s support for legislation to entrench broad exemptions from the draft for ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students.

“There are yawning chasms between Smotrich and the values of religious Zionism’s sons and daughters, those who serve, who dedicate themselves, lovers of the nation and the land,” the former military chief says.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid says in response to Smotrich’s defense of the soldiers: “I thought Iran was the enemy, not the inspiration.”