Rabbi,
what is the value of “preserving a public Jewish character”?

I have never understood what the point of that is (aside from considerations of convenience).

In my view, religion is a personal matter, not a collective one.

So again, I can find various benefits, but what is the value in it?

I said that I too do not see this as having great value, but one could argue that if some kind of Jewish character is preserved, it may improve the chances of different Jews moving closer to religious commitment and Jewish identity. Though of course coercion could reduce those chances.

My interest as a religious person is that there should be as much overlap as possible between the economy’s day of rest and the Sabbath, if only in order to open up as many employment opportunities as possible without religious conflict.

That does not negate the parallel obligation on the public and on each individual to acquire the best professional and technological education possible, so as to place himself in a good position relative to the demands of the market. And this is in accordance with the Shulchan Arukh, Orach Chayim section 156: “Afterward he should go to his business, for any Torah that is not accompanied by work will in the end come to nothing and lead to sin, because poverty will cause him to abandon the path of his Creator.” The words speak for themselves.

Both the Rabbi and you are speaking on the level of self-interest.
The Rabbi says it improves the chances of bringing Jews closer to religion.
You say it improves your chances of making a living.

I’m not getting into cost-benefit considerations.
My claim is that from the public discourse around the issue, it seems as though there is a “value” in a Jewish character—not as a means, but as an end. As though the public sphere of the state ought to be religious. (Similar to the distinction people make regarding a private individual, whether he is “Sabbath-observant in public” or not.)

I said that I don’t connect to that.
It seems to me that someone who seeks a religious character is someone who sanctifies the idea of the Jewish state and sees in it a theological religious value.
By contrast, someone who defines himself as “a religious Jew and a secular citizen,” someone who sees the state as a utilitarian arrangement for the welfare of its citizens, should not see the Jewish character as a value. A benefit, yes, but not a value. True, the state was established for Jews and wants to preserve a Jewish majority, but it is not a “Jewish state” so much as a state of the Jewish people.

I agree with every word. And that is exactly what I said—it has only instrumental value. Even the connection you made to a conception of the state (Religious Zionist) already appears in my writings in several places (for example, my article in Tzohar on the third way, and my response in Akdamot to the responses to my article on Hebrew law).