Lack of manpower: IDF reservists service jumps from 25 to 136 days a year

The military is way behind in replacing dead, wounded soldiers.

 IDF soldiers from the 146th Reserves Division begin operations in southern Lebanon. (photo credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
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 war time.

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.

IDF sources hope that in the coming year, presuming the war ends or stabilizes at a level that does not require significant new invasions, that reservist duty can drop back down to around 70-72 days.

Included in that calculation would be approximately two weeks of training, preparation, and organization in the field.

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.

 IDF soldiers in the Golani Brigade's reservist 9th Brigade complete an exercise in Israel's northern border.  (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
IDF soldiers in the Golani Brigade's reservist 9th Brigade complete an exercise in Israel's northern border. (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

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.

An increase in draft numbers nationally 

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 Haredim still 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.

Honing in on those soldiers who have been killed during the war, 34%, or 385, have been reservists.


Stay updated with the latest news!

Subscribe to The Jerusalem Post Newsletter


141 have been mandatory service soldiers and another 268 have been career officers.

135 of those killed have been commanders, including: four colonels, five lieutenant colonels who command battalions, seven deputy battalion commanders, 63 company commanders, 20 deputy company commanders, and 67 platoon commanders.

These deaths have impacted 1,543 parents, 180 widows, 27 pregnant widows, 507 orphans, and 219 partners.

Based on all of this, 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, anyway, to achieve the war goals set by the government.

The IDF also said that it has made strides in bringing back many of around 70,000 reservists who had been off the rolls in late 2023 due to various non-medical exemptions.

On the brighter side statistically, the IDF said it has seen a 16% increase in draft numbers nationally.

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.

Despite these future dangers, the IDF did say that  it has expended NIS 8.02 billion out of nine billion allocated for reservists.

These funds have covered a wide variety of items, such as: replacing work salaries, general child care, child care during the holiday or summer periods, funds for students, paying for vacations, paying for social services assistance.

If the government does not authorize continuing these funds past the coming year, this could also lead to a crisis since the number of reservist service days is still expected to be much larger than it was before 2023 simply in order to more fully guard the borders going forward.

More broadly speaking, the IDF said it has around 500,000 total soldiers, broken down into around 300,000 reservists, 42,000 career officers, and over 150,000 mandatory service soldiers.

The IDF showed statistics displaying that in some areas, its current staffing needs are down to 83% being filled and charting out how much growth it would need to refill those needs by around 2029.

In some specific technical fields or in the unit dealing with driving vehicles, staffing is down to 74% and 66% respectively.