Hundreds of Israeli officers have withdrawn from military service this year – citing the “burden of war” and unsatisfactory conditions for reservists, Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported on 19 December.
“About 500 majors have already retired this year,” Israel Hayom said. The Israeli army is “surprised by the scope of the phenomenon, and admits that they estimated that the wave of departures would expand when the fighting subsides, and not in the midst of the war,” the daily added.
The report confirms that Israel started its war on Gaza last year with a “particularly acute manpower crisis.”
In 2022, a record number of over 600 Israeli majors retired from service. While the pace of departures slowed down at the start of 2023, as the war erupted in October of that year, the “trend is now worsening” once again, and the “outlook for 2025 is not encouraging.”