Smotrich says he would tell his daughter not to enlist in the IDF

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, the head of the Religious Zionism party, says he would tell his daughter not to serve in the IDF.

“If my daughter asked me, I would try to educate her not to go” serve in the military, Smotrich says, in response to a question from a reporter at his party’s faction meeting in the Knesset.

“The Chief Rabbinate is against this. This is the position of my rabbis,” says Smotrich. “I hope that you, these big progressives, can also respect the values of several thousand years…. And I of course respect those who think differently than I do.”

The issue of religious women serving in the IDF is a divisive one in the national religious community, where many instead undertake national service instead of enlisting, although it is also common for female graduates of religious high schools to enlist. Many major religious Zionist rabbis have spoken out against women serving in the IDF, arguing that it is not modest or appropriate.

Smotrich himself served a shortened IDF service after enlisting at age 28. He has in the past spoken out against mixed-gender combat units in the military.