IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir pushed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (FADC) in a closed session on Sunday to draft large numbers of haredim into the military, as well as to pass other laws to expand the IDF.
In late March, a warning Zamir gave at a security cabinet meeting about this issue was leaked, in which he said the IDF could soon collapse if there is no solution to the manpower shortage.
“I am raising 10 red flags before the IDF collapses into itself,” Zamir said during that cabinet meeting, The Jerusalem Post confirmed.
The leaking of the remarks set off a public political storm, including various moves by FADC Chairman Boaz Bismuth to either claim Zamir supported Bismuth’s policies on haredim in the IDF (Zamir does not) or to summon the IDF chief to clarify his warning.
Zamir put off responding during the Iran war, but finally agreed to speak to the FADC by around mid-May.
Relations and trust between the sides are low, given leaks from the FADC against Zamir and the IDF, and Bismuth’s categorization of Zamir’s actions as not in line with the government’s policies.
IDF sources also told the Post at the time that there was tremendous concern due to the severe manpower shortage, especially amid the ongoing war.
IDF: More soldiers needed
Even in peacetime, Israel would still need more soldiers – not fewer – on the border in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank, the sources said.
If the government does not add more soldiers, there will be gaps, they added.
There has also been no law set in place to significantly increase haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription into the army, contributing to the lack of manpower.
Following the debate sparked by Zamir’s leaked remarks, IDF Chief Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Effie Defrin said publicly that the military needed around 15,000 more soldiers, including half of them combat fighters, by early 2027.
Further, Zamir told the FADC on Sunday that it needed to pass bills to extend mandatory and reserve service.
Some analysts have said this might not have been necessary if the current government had started drafting haredim after the October 7 invasion by Hamas.
But given the lack of progress regarding that draft, even if a new law were passed now to draft haredim – and no political analysts believe this will happen, given Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s reliance on haredi political support – Zamir believes extending mandatory and reserve service would be necessary during the next couple of years of transition.
