After more than a year of war in Gaza, Israel is short of soldiers

Photo: Tsafrir Abayov Associated Press The Israeli army has some 170,000 active soldiers, and military service is mandatory for boys and girls at 18, but some are exempted from various forms of service.

Michaël Blum – Agence France-Presse in Jerusalem

Published at 9:57

• Middle East

More than a year after the start of the war against Hamas in Gaza, the Israeli army is struggling to recruit soldiers and reservists are overwhelmed by the weight of tours of duty.

Around 300,000 reservists have been recalled since October 7, 2023, according to the army, of which 18.3% were exempt, being over 40 years old.

The army has some 170,000 active soldiers, and military service is compulsory for boys and girls aged 18, but some are granted various exemptions.

Israel is waging a war on several fronts, notably against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, which has killed 771 soldiers and wounded 4,500.

Reserve periods have been extended, and some reservists are protesting the measures, which deprive them of a family life, sometimes for more than six months at a time.

“We are sinking,” Ariel Seri-Levy said on Facebook in a message shared thousands of times on social media.

He has been called up four times since the October 7 attack and denounces those who want Israel to “remain in Lebanon and Gaza.”

“We have to end this war because we have no more soldiers,” he said. He still believes in the importance of serving his country but believes that “the concessions have become too great.”

Another reservist, a father of two, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP that “in addition to physical fatigue and mental exhaustion, I have lost my job.”

Income

Many self-employed workers have closed their businesses because of the war, even though the state provides a minimum income for reservists.

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“The collective is always above the individual, but the price is too high for my family,” he concluded, adding that he had spent almost six months in Gaza since 12 month.

The conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews, who are partly exempt from military service, is at the heart of public debate.

They represent about 14% of Israel's Jewish population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), or nearly 1.3 million people.

About 66,000 men of military age benefit from this exemption because they devote themselves to the study of the sacred texts of Judaism, according to the army under a rule established when Israel was created in 1948.

But in June, the Supreme Court ordered the conscription of yeshiva (Talmudic school) students, ruling that the government did not have the right to exempt them “in the absence of a legal framework” adequate”.

The ultra-Orthodox political parties, key members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition, have demanded that the government pass a law making the exemption permanent before a crucial vote on the state budget at the end of the year.

The leader of the Shas party (Ultra-Orthodox Sephardic) Arie Dery said in an interview that he hoped to “solve the problem of army call-ups” for yeshiva students.

The director Hagai Luber, whose son Yeonatan was killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, responded to him in an open letter.

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• Ultra-Orthodox Conscription Shakes Netanyahu Government
• Israel Supreme Court Orders Conscription of Talmudic School Students

“What's the Problem”

“The problem is my beloved son Yeonatan who died in Gaza 10 months ago, my wonderful son Itamar who is currently fighting in Gaza, my devoted son Elad, who will soon enter Gaza […] the problem is not being able to sleep for fear of another announcement, like a black cloud floating above us,” he wrote.

Another open letter, signed by more than 2,000 wives of reservists from the religious-Zionist movement that combines religious life and participation in the army, calls for “lightening the burden on those who serve.”

“There is no opposition between studying Torah and military service, the two go together,” academic Tehila Elitzour, a woman and mother of reservists.

Six men who were exempted from the reserve but who had volunteered died in combat between October 22 and 28, including a father of ten children.

For David Zenou, a 52-year-old rabbi who spent more than 250 days in uniform this year, including several weeks in Lebanon as a combatant, “it is a merit to serve my country and as long as I can do it, I will continue.”

“But above all, let's not forget that it is war and that we are short of soldiers,” this father of seven daughters and grandfather of six times told AFP.