Gadi Eisenkot, leader of the Yesh Atid party, sharply criticized Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Monday following the minister's public support for religious soldiers from the Givati Brigade who were sentenced to military prison. The soldiers had refused to board an ambulance staffed by a female paramedic, in violation of the IDF's gender integration directive known as the Joint Service Order.
In his statement, Smotrich declared his full backing for the soldiers, saying: "I support the Givati fighters who insisted on their right and duty to serve in the IDF while maintaining their values and faith, and while adhering to the Proper Integration Order. These soldiers have the full support of the rabbis and leaders of the Hesder Yeshiva Association, who examined this issue thoroughly and carefully, and stand behind the decision."
The finance minister added that he had "prayed and hoped with all my might that the IDF would come to its senses and avoid the need for my intervention, but since that didn't happen, as leader of Religious Zionism, I cannot sit idly by and will demand answers from the IDF on this matter."
Smotrich concluded by stating: "It's very unfortunate that there are those in the IDF who choose with misguided judgment to confront head-on the most serving and contributing public, in a way that will only create damage and harm public trust in the IDF."
