Data: Sharp Decline in Israel Reserve Recruitment Rates

Date: 12 November 2024 - 22:18

News ID: ۱۳۳۴۹۶

WEST BANK (Dispatches) –
Recent data reported by Yedioth Ahronoth shows a significant decline in recruitment rates for the Israeli Army’s reserve forces.
The newspaper indicated a notable increase in the number of soldiers refusing to join reserve forces, with rejection rates reaching around 15-25 per cent in recent months. This trend has raised concerns within the military, particularly as it affects frontline units in Gaza and near Lebanon, potentially altering operational decision-making.
The data further showed that, while reserve recruitment rates initially stood at 100 percent at the start of the conflict in Gaza in October 2023, they have dropped to around 75-85 percent in recent weeks. This decline has reportedly alarmed military leaders, impacting their decisions regarding military actions on both fronts.
The report attributed the decrease in reserve enlistment to the protracted duration of the conflict, which has significantly dampened soldiers’ motivation. Many reservists are also eager to return to their families and academic lives, especially in light of delays in receiving their full financial entitlements.
The decline has been attributed by senior officers to burnout among reservists after fighting for over a year of war, along with them being away from their families for extended periods, losing jobs, or missing academic studies.
It has also been attributed to resentment over the failure of the regime to draft masses of the ultra-Orthodox community, while the religious and secular communities serve at high rates.
The IDF has been seeking to expand its ranks and lengthen the mandatory military service time to relieve the reservists from extended duty, as many of them have already been serving for most of the war and are expected to be called up for over 100 days of duty next year as well.
The military has said that it currently requires some 10,000 new soldiers — mostly combat troops — but can only accommodate the enlistment of an additional 3,000 ultra-Orthodox this year, due to their specific needs. This group is in addition to some 1,800 Haredi soldiers who are already drafted annually.
The dispute over the ultra-Orthodox community serving in the military is one of the most contentious in Israel, with decades of regime and judicial attempts to settle the issue never achieving a stable resolution.