From the Liveblog of
Monday, August 31, 2026
Smotrich insists jailed Givati soldiers had the right to refuse to serve alongside female paramedic
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Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich comes out in support of the 16 IDF soldiers who were handed prison sentences yesterday for thwarting an operational mission in Gaza over their refusal to enter an armored personnel carrier with a female paramedic.
In a post on X, Smotrich says the Givati Brigade soldiers had the right to “safeguard their values and beliefs” while serving in the military, and insists that they “have the full backing” of their religious Zionist rabbis.
“I prayed and hoped with all my heart that the IDF would come to its senses and prevent the need for my intervention, but since that did not happen — as the leader of Religious Zionism, I cannot sit idly by,” writes the minister, demanding an explanation from the military.
He claims that the IDF’s decision to prosecute the soldiers for their refusal to enter the APC with a woman, and the subsequent cancellation of a mission, “will only cause damage and undermine the public’s trust in the IDF.”
The Givati Brigade’s Rotem Battalion, where the soldiers serve, is not an ultra-Orthodox unit, and therefore the soldiers serving there, under the IDF’s protocols, may have to serve alongside women.
The Times of Israel Community.