Netanyahu’s government has been unable to force the ultra-Orthodox into military service despite the multiple ongoing wars
News Desk
MAR 26, 2026
The Israeli army’s chief of staff, Eyal Zamir, warned on 25 March that the military is “going to collapse in on itself” after failing to pass a law to recruit soldiers among the ultra-Orthodox (Haredim) and to extend military mandatory service to 36 months.
The warning comes as Israel’s military is fighting wars against Gaza, Iran, and Lebanon – where Israeli troops are engaged in a ground campaign to conquer and annex Lebanon’s south.
Unless the existing law is changed, the duration of compulsory service is set to decrease to 30 months in January 2027, despite a shortage of many thousands of soldiers.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet has found it politically difficult to continue to extend mandatory military service while at the same time exempting tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox men from conscription into the army.
Left-wing and secular Israelis are angry that the Haredim are not required to share the burden of participating in the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza and expanding the borders of “Greater Israel” in Lebanon.
Zamir made the comments during a cabinet meeting attended by the prime minister, heads of the defense establishment, and ministers.
“In a short time, the IDF will not be prepared for its routine mission. The reservists will not last,” the chief of staff told attendees.
“The reserves are being eroded. The law needs to be regulated, more reserves are needed, and the tasks are only growing. Maintaining these areas requires reserves, there have been gaps for a long time,” an army source added.
“Drowning in the Lebanese mud.”
Rough Lebanese weather conditions prove to be menacing as Israeli reporter Chen Artzi Sror complains about the difficulties her tank crewman husband is facing while trying to invade Lebanon.
Translated by @ireallyhateyou pic.twitter.com/0nNbStYBSw
— The Cradle (@TheCradleMedia) March 26, 2026
On Wednesday, the Israeli cabinet approved the call-up of up to 400,000 reservists to meet the army’s manpower needs amid its wars with Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The military says this does not reflect the actual number of reservists the it will call up, but rather a “ceiling that allows flexibility … according to operational needs.”
On Thursday, an Israeli soldier was killed by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon overnight, the military announced, as the resistance movement continued to bombard northern Israeli cities and towns with rocket fire and drones.
Staff Sergeant Ori Greenberg, a member of the Golani Brigade’s Reconnaissance Unit, was the third Israeli soldier to be killed in Israel’s renewed ground offensive in southern Lebanon.
Since the ground campaign began on 2 March, four days after Israel launched a war on Iran, Hezbollah has put up stiff resistance to protect the south of the country from invading Israeli troops.
On 23 March, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich stated that Israel should conquer and annex territory up to the Litani River deep inside Lebanon’s south. The move would capture additional water resources for Israel and pave the way for the settlement of Israeli Jews in Lebanon, thereby expanding “Greater Israel.”
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