Israel would still need more soldiers in peacetime, while there is still no law set in place to significantly increase haredi conscription into the army.

The IDF could soon collapse if there is no solution to the shortage of manpower, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir warned in remarks during a security cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.

“I am raising 10 red flags before the IDF collapses into itself,” Zamir said during the cabinet meeting, The Jerusalem Post confirmed.

IDF sources also told the Post that there is tremendous concern due to the severe manpower shortage, especially amid the ongoing war.

Even in peacetime, Israel would still need more soldiers – not fewer – on the border in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank, the sources said.

If the government does not add more soldiers, then there will be places with big gaps, they added.

There has also been no law set in place to significantly increase haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription into the army, contributing to the lack of manpower.

Before Operation Roaring Lion, the government was rapidly advancing controversial legislation that was said to enforce haredi conscription.

Critics argued the proposed bill was a political measure intended to appease the haredi parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and would not effectively enforce conscription.

Haredi draft bill 'set aside' amid war

Netanyahu announced at the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion that the draft bill would be “set aside” for unity reasons and would not be advanced during the war.

Opposition politicians sharply criticized the government in response to Zamir’s remarks, warning that the lack of preparedness and enforcement of haredi conscription could lead to a major security crisis in the country.

Members of the Yesh Atid Party sent a letter to Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chairperson MK Boaz Bismuth, demanding that he convene an emergency session to discuss ways to expand the IDF's ranks.
The haredi draft bill was being advanced by Bismuth’s committee.

The Yesh Atid letter notes that the stalling of the haredi conscription is not a political dispute but a security danger that rises to the level of pikuach nefesh (a matter of saving life).

“After we have warned many times, it is no longer possible to ignore this. The chief of staff’s remarks point to an internal collapse within the IDF stemming from the lack of conscription and the burden on reservists,” the letter adds.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) stated that “In the next disaster, the government won’t be able to say ‘We didn’t know.’ It bears responsibility. This is on its head.”

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman called to draft everyone and said that the government has become accustomed to ignoring warnings before a disaster, as he referenced the October 7 massacre.

Former prime minister Naftali Bennett also slammed the government. “What are you waiting for, for heaven’s sake?” he asked.

He added that a government dependent on Shas Party leader Arye Deri and United Torah Judaism leader Yitzhak Goldknopf “is incapable of providing security.”

Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz said that while the government was promising to “change the Middle East” and win the war, it was promoting mass draft evasion and “doesn’t even ensure there will be soldiers to actually win.”

“You will not be able to sweep this disgrace under the rug; you will not be able to say ‘we didn’t know’ when the next disaster arrives,” he added.

Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot (Yashar!) said that implementing a law for mandatory service for all “is the need of the hour. It is a moral imperative. Only it will return Israel to the right path, fulfill the IDF’s mission, and safeguard Israel’s security.”

Reservist Party leader Yoaz Hendel stated, “The chief of staff is right. Listen to him. Victory requires soldiers. The government repeatedly uses the reservists as a resource and wears them down to the limit.”

“Even if they [the government] told the cameras that they froze the draft evasion law, in practice they continue to transfer money to institutions that encourage evasion and do not enforce the existing law,” Hendel added.