Military shortages – Israel re-enlists reservists to exempt them from duty

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant has ordered the Israeli army to recall reservists who were released in recent years due to troop shortages.

In a statement, Galante justified the move, saying it was “taken into account the assessment of the situation and the scale of activities of regular and reserve forces, and as part of the Army’s plan to increase the number of active-duty soldiers.”

The statement said the Israeli occupation forces had begun contacting reservists who had been granted exemptions, referred to as “essential units,” and were still within the eligible age for service.

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Israel Novaya Gazeta The goal is to re-recruit 15,000 reservists who were previously exempted from military service, the newspaper said.

According to the Times of Israel, the re-enlistees “are personnel who were discharged due to personnel reductions and are below the exemption age, which is 40 for most soldiers, 45 for officers and 49 for professionals.”

Send 10,000 more soldiers

Israel’s Defense Minister announced in July that in view of the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army urgently needs to send an additional 10,000 soldiers.

“The army needs 10,000 more troops immediately,” Galant told a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, according to Army Radio.

He mentioned that the army could recruit 4,800 soldiers from among ultra-Orthodox men.

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In May, Israel’s Supreme Court unanimously ruled that ultra-Orthodox Jews must accept military conscription, ending decades of exemption from military service.

Israel’s defense minister and the military agreed in July to begin drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews in August, The Jerusalem Post reported at the time.

Military conscription sparks violent conflict Israeli police and ultra-Orthodox Jews took to the streets to strongly protest This move.

Since 2017, when Israel’s Supreme Court overturned a 2015 law exempting Haredi members from military service as violating the “principle of equality,” successive Israeli governments have struggled to reach a consensus on Haredi conscription.

The Times of Israel reported at the time that an estimated 67,000 Haredi men were eligible for military service.

(PC, Anadolu Agency)