By The Jerusalem Post (World News) | Created at 2024-11-14 14:05:06 | Updated at 2024-11-22 02:38:43
1 week ago
All of this takes place as the government has been stuck on legislation to officially and permanently increase service length for mandatory service soldiers from 32 to 36 months.
By YONAH JEREMY BOB NOVEMBER 14, 2024 16:01
IDF soldiers from the 146th Reserves Division begin operations in southern Lebanon.
(photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Service for reservists in the IDF has jumped from a pre-war average of 25-42 days over one to three years, depending on the role, to around 136 days per year for combat fighters during wartime.
Reservist commanders are serving even longer in 2023-2024, at an average of 168 days per year, with certain soldiers serving on the front at around 142 days, while reservists serving in Home Front desk jobs at around 121 days.
Although the IDF said that 85% of reservists are still showing up for duty, anecdotally, The Jerusalem Post understands that many specific units are at much lower numbers, some even close to 50%, a potential threat to the military being able to continue the multiple missions assigned to it by the government as part of the ongoing war.
All of this takes place as the government has been stuck on legislation to officially and permanently increase service length for mandatory service soldiers from 32 to 36 months, for reservists, and for career officers, as well as being stuck on legislation to pressure haredim to join the IDF in higher numbers.
Those opposing the legislation both within the coalition and the opposition, especially outgoing defense minister Yoav Gallant, have argued that it was morally repugnant to increase the length of service on the rest of the country, which at least has been performing significant service until now when the vast majority of haredims till never serve a day.
IDF sources suggested separating the issue, noting that since the war started, around 800 soldiers have been killed, 5,346 have been wounded, and 11,944 have been examined for potential medical issues from battle.
This means that the IDF needs at least 7,000 new soldiers to replace those already lost and probably needs more since many of those examined may have post-traumatic stress disorder and may not continue to serve.
Based on that perspective, IDF sources said that even if the IDF had gotten a 100% attendance rate from the 3,000 draft orders it issued to haredim this past summer - and in reality, only around 300 showed up - it would still have needed thousands more new soldiers or to extend the service of thousands of soldiers in order to cover the losses to date.
Pressed that the numbers were too large to maintain the war as the IDF has now for 14 months and that this message should be passed on to the government, IDF sources pushed back and said that it is the job of the military to find a way, any way, to achieve the war goals set by the government.
An increase in draft numbers nationally
On the brighter side, statistically, the IDF said it had seen a 16% increase in draft numbers nationally.
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Regarding women, the IDF said that the number of women in combat roles has jumped from 4,200 to 4,800.
All of this is part of a longer process, given that female combat fighters were at only 3,600 in 2019, which itself was a jump from earlier years.
Analyzing the different parts of the IDF, the career officer track is currently made up of 51% commissioned officers and 49% non-commissioned officers, while it is made up of around 70% men and 30% women.
The IDF said that it is still losing large numbers of career officers to the private sector because salaries are much lower than in the private sector, while even within the public sector, average commander salaries at around NIS 16,000 per month, is lower than the prisons at around NIS 18,000 per month, and the police at around NIS 19,000 per month.
This situation is an additional large danger to the IDF's future, said sources.
