The mandatory service for men serving in the IDF has been cut from 36 to 32 months. Now, as officials are preparing to shave off an additional two months to 30 months, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman is not on board. The program began with his predecessor, Moshe Ya’alon. In fact, Lieberman does not want to curtail service but wishes to return to the original 36 months.

The move to curtail service has already been approved by the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee and if passed in its three readings in Knesset, it would become laws beginning in 2020.

IDF officials explain that the cut to 32 months and the next planned reduction to 30 months will result in fewer men serving in the military in years to come. Manpower Branch officials confirm the curtailed service will result in fewer crucial positions among divers, combat certified diver and the cyber units. The experts however explain national security would not be compromised, as Chief of Human Resources in the Manpower Branch Brigadier-General Eran Shani confirms the reservists are what determine the outcome of a war, not the standing army force. The former comprises two-thirds of the military as compared to the latter, which only represents one-third.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)