‘Send your children to fight’: Smotrich spars with Haredi MKs over hostages, IDF
Dispute among coalition members sparked after Shas and United Torah Judaism lawmakers slam finance minister for saying that ‘returning the hostages is not the most important thing’
Sam Sokol is the Times of Israel's political correspondent. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
United Torah Judaism MK Moshe Gafni “has no right to talk about the war” and should “send his children to fight” before he weighs in on the issue, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich told Jerusalem Radio on Tuesday, amid harsh criticism from ultra-Orthodox lawmakers of his position on the return of the hostages.
Smotrich’s remarks about his fellow coalition member came after Gafni, the leader of UTJ’s Degel Hatorah faction, called him out for his assertion that “returning the hostages is not the most important thing” compared to defeating Hamas.
During a radio interview on Monday morning, Smotrich argued that returning the hostages “is obviously a very important goal, but if you want to destroy Hamas so that there can’t be another October 7, you need to understand that there can’t be a situation where Hamas remains in Gaza.”
His comments drew immediate condemnation from the Hostage and Missing Families Forum as well as the opposition but, except for its ultra-Orthodox members, there was little response from within the coalition itself.
Following his statement, Gafni compared Smotrich to the Sicarii of the Second Temple period, a group of zealots for whom “the national issue was more important than human life.”
Smotrich then launched a fierce attack on Gafni, saying that only someone who still holds a “diaspora mindset” and doesn’t believe that the State of Israel is the rightful “return to Zion” is capable of “comparing the current reality to the period of the destruction of the Second Temple.”
“Thank God, Gafni represents a minority that is getting smaller in Haredi society,” he continued, arguing that “in the end, the victory over Hamas is intended to preserve human lives” and that “surrendering to a murderous terrorist organization and leaving it as a ruling entity” in Gaza would lead to more bloodshed and kidnappings in the future.
In a separate exchange on Twitter, Smotrich wrote on Monday that if returning the hostages was really important to Gafni, he would “join us in finding a real solution for recruiting Haredim into the IDF because we need you together with us to win the war and bring everyone back.”
Gafni and his party have repeatedly demanded the passage of legislation reestablishing military service exemptions for yeshiva students, which were struck down by the High Court of Justice last summer.
The army has stated that it is facing a manpower shortage and needs some 12,000 new soldiers — 7,000 of whom would be combat troops.
Approximately 70,000 Haredi men between the ages of 18 and 24 are eligible for military service and have not enlisted. According to the IDF’s Personnel Directorate, only 2% of the 10,000 ultra-Orthodox men who were sent conscription orders from July 2024 to March 2025 have actually joined the armed forces.
In total, 1,721 Haredim have joined the army since the beginning of the current recruitment cycle last year.
On Monday evening, Deputy Transportation Minister Uri Maklev (UTJ) joined Gafni in his criticism, accusing Smotrich of harming the families of the hostages and saying it was impossible to “remain silent” in the face of efforts to make the hostages’ return a “secondary” priority.
In a statement, Maklev also condemned Smotrich for engaging in “extremist” rhetoric that “causes division and strengthens polarization” and slammed his Religious Zionism party’s members for “defiantly ascending the Temple Mount.”
Speaking with Radio Kol Hai on Tuesday, Shas MK Yinon Azoulay also attacked Smotrich, stating that there was an obligation “to make every effort for the hostages,” who he insisted “must come before everything else.”
Following their criticism, MK Ohad Tal, a member of Smotrich’s Religious Zionism party, sniped at the ultra-Orthodox lawmakers’ public position on military issues in a tweet.
“Reservist generals Yinon Azoulay, Uri Maklev, and Moshe Gafni, they’re waiting for you at the Bakum [military induction base],” he wrote.
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