According to a Yediot Achronot report the IDF admits to a surplus in manpower, particularly Homefront Command units. As a result of the need for fiscal belt-tightening in the IDF, it is likely the military will curtail the service of tens of thousands of soldiers. It appears that tens of thousands of soldiers have been inducted and there is nothing for them to do.
In his response to the report, MK (The Movement) Elazar Stern explains this is fine for as long as combat soldiers serving a full term of service receive adequate compensation.
Military correspondent Yossi Yehoshua reports the IDF is weighing a dramatic change in its compulsory service. This will entail curtailing the service of many homefront administrative personnel whose services are not viewed as being essential. Their service will be cut by a number of months, most likely as much as a year. They will most like serve two years instead of three. A committee has been established and it is headed by an officer of the rank of brigadier-general to determine what will be done with the surplus in manpower. The committee will submit its recommendations to Chief of Personnel Branch Major-General Orna Barvibai.
The report quotes officers expressing concerns that this will deliver another blow to waning motivation. “It is already difficult inducting the youth into combat units and this will make it more difficult” a senior officer is quoted saying, adding “This is a problematic message for the young so we must proceed cautiously.”
Other commanders feel that one who has volunteered for a combat unit is not going to reverse his decision because a friend is going to serve less time in a non-combat setting. They feel that curtailing the service of non-combatants will not have an adverse impact on the combat soldiers providing the latter get an increase in salary. “It is not acceptable for a combat soldier to [only] earn 800 NIS monthly” a senior officer adds. “A non-combatant earns less but he can work since he sits home all day. This is a disgrace” the senior officer is quoted saying.
This report will have ramifications beyond the induction of chareidim for it may signal a further deterioration of the “people’s army” concept that has been the flagship of many who feel IDF service is not just compulsory, but a privilege.
It appears that while those volunteering for elite combat units remain highly motivated, primarily the dati leumi community, there is a discernible lack of motivation among those being inducted into non-combat units, including many administrative posts. In actuality, many soldiers have learned they can disappear and no one will detect their absence since they simply do not have anything to do, leading to the decline in motivation as they come to realize they are simply wasting time.
The report quotes a “senior officer” who admits this is the case, calling it the “hidden unemployment” in the IDF. The officer refers to “thousands of soldiers who come for two to three hours four days weekly…” He explains that many of these soldiers are AWOL (Absent Without Official Leave) two or three times until discharged, or some land out in jail and that is even more costly for the military.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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3 Responses
So the Zionist Government itself is admitting its attempts to draft exempt Chareidim is not because they are needed. No, their Army doesn’t need them at all; they are overstaffed and have too much manpower already.
Rather, they themselves are admitting, the true reason for their cantonist draft proposal is to force Jews out of the Beis Medrash and break Torah Jews who refuse to melt into the Zionist melting pot.
so why not simply do what they used to do in the US – have a draft lottery by date of birth.
They should do what they do in the US – rely exclusively on highly motivated people who want to be in the army. The reason they don’t do so is that the IDF’s primary function is to turn all Israelis into “Normal” Israelis (fairly secular, with a common secular culture).
rkefrat: The US used the lottery to regulate the order of people being drafted since almost everyone wanted to serve in the world wars and they needed an orderly way to get them involved. THe lottery based on birthdatge was used very briely at the end of the draft and was a total failure since most people were refusing to show up – and the military realized that relying on conscripts correlates with military failure.