Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism party, said this week that he would counsel his own daughter against serving in the Israel Defense Forces, citing the stance of leading rabbinic authorities and long-standing religious principles.

Speaking during his party’s faction meeting in the Knesset, Smotrich was asked directly by a reporter how he would respond if his daughter expressed interest in enlisting. He replied, “If my daughter asked me, I would try to educate her not to go” serve in the military.

He pointed to the guidance of senior rabbinic leadership as shaping his position. “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 question of religious women serving in the IDF remains a source of ongoing debate within the national religious community. While many young women from that sector choose to perform national service in lieu of military enlistment, it is also not uncommon for graduates of religious high schools to join the army. At the same time, a number of prominent religious Zionist rabbis have publicly opposed female enlistment, contending that army service does not align with standards of modesty and appropriateness.

Smotrich himself entered the military later in life, enlisting at age 28 and completing a shortened period of service. Over the years, he has also voiced criticism of mixed-gender combat frameworks within the IDF.

{Matzav.com}