Israeli army struggles with severe personnel shortage
In an opinion piece published Sunday in Maariv, Brik highlighted that thousands of officers and non-commissioned officers have avoided service recently, either by refusing call-ups or declining to renew their contracts. Over two years of Israel’s war in Gaza, the military reportedly lost 923 troops, with 6,399 wounded and around 20,000 soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress, according to army data cited by local media. Heavy military censorship has fueled accusations that the army is concealing even higher losses to maintain morale.
Brik noted that many officers requested immediate discharge while younger recruits avoided long-term commitments, causing a widespread shortage of professional staff across the military. This decline in manpower is affecting equipment maintenance and the operation of combat systems, he added.
The analyst warned that the situation could soon result in the army “losing its ability to function entirely.” He attributed the crisis to poor decisions by successive chiefs of staff in recent years, including deep personnel cuts and reduced service terms—three years for men and two for women—which created gaps that cannot be quickly repaired.
These gaps, he said, have pushed experienced professionals out of service while leaving unprepared personnel in critical roles, rendering them ill-equipped to handle current battlefield challenges. Brik also criticized the army’s manpower division for operating “without professionalism or responsibility” and for failing to address core issues in human resource management and operational planning.
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