Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef spoke with Tzfat Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu and praised him for his "uncompromising stand on the fulfillment of the Rabbinate's directive regarding female enlistment in the IDF." Eliyahu had earlier called for the dismissal of the Chief of Staff due to the radical feminism which the IDF has adopted during his tenure.
Yosef said that "your father, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, is happy in heaven for you. Do not fear and do not be afraid."