Israeli Military Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly warned the occupation army “is going to collapse in on itself” during a security cabinet meeting this week, citing mounting operational demands and a growing manpower shortage.
“I am raising 10 red flags in front of you,” Zamir told ministers, according a Channel 13 news report on Thursday.
“Right now, the IDF needs a conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service,” he said, referring to Israeli Occupation Forces.
“Before long, the IDF will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last,” Zamir was quoted as saying by The Times of Israel.
Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post quoted Israeli military sources as saying “there is tremendous concern due to the severe manpower shortage, especially amid the ongoing war.”
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, according to JPost.
“If the government does not add more soldiers, then there will be places with big gaps,” they added.
Opposition Slams Israeli Gov’t
Zamir’s comments sparked criticism from opposition figures to the Israeli government, who said it was not attending to the country’s security and called for more efforts to draft ultra-Orthodox Israelis.
Members of the Yesh Atid Party sent a letter to Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairperson MK Boaz Bismuth, demanding that he convene an emergency session to discuss ways to expand the Israeli army ranks.
The Yesh Atid letter notes that the stalling of the Haredi conscription is not a political dispute but rather a security danger that rises to the level of a matter of saving life.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) stated that “In the next disaster, the government won’t be able to say ‘We didn’t know.’ It bears responsibility. This is on its head.”
Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman called to draft everyone and said that the government “has become accustomed to ignoring warnings before a disaster,” as he referenced the October 7 Op. Al-Aqsa Flood.
Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also slammed the occupation government. “What are you waiting for, for heaven’s sake?” he asked.
He added that a government dependent on Shas Party leader Arye Deri and United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf “is incapable of providing security.”
Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz said that while the Israeli government was promising to “change the Middle East” and win the war, it was promoting mass draft evasion and “doesn’t even ensure there will be soldiers to actually win.”
“You will not be able to sweep this disgrace under the rug; you will not be able to say ‘we didn’t know’ when the next disaster arrives,” he added.
Former Israeli chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (Yashar!) said that implementing a law for mandatory service for all “is the need of the hour. It is a moral imperative. Only it will return Israel to the right path, fulfill the IDF’s mission, and safeguard Israel’s security.”
Reservist Party leader Yoaz Hendel stated, “The chief of staff is right. Listen to him. Victory requires soldiers. The government repeatedly uses the reservists as a resource and wears them down to the limit.”
Source: Israeli media (translated and edited by Al-Manar English Website)