The Minister of Defense and Blue and White Chairman Bnei Gantz announced a coalition Mary following the failure to promote the permanent service outline. This is an agreement between Gantz, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman on the Chief of Staff Very public, and the fixation of the additions in the new outline only exacerbated it.
The same criticism came not only from the opposition, but also from coalition officials who led to the issue being repeatedly rejected. On the other hand, the IDF and the Ministry of Defense launched an information campaign that included, among other things, economic press meetings with the deputy chief of staff and briefings. At the same time, Ganz feels that he is not getting the backing from Bennett. “The IDF, with its soldiers, its permanent staff and its declining reservists, is under fire from home,” Gantz said.
457 extended service servants retired during 2021
The IDF presents data that illustrate a significant crisis in permanent service. Data from the IDF Personnel Division obtained by Globes show that the number of “voluntarily leaving” of permanent service in 2021 in prolonged service reached 457, compared with 355 in 2020 – an increase Of almost 30%. In 2019, the figure was 306, and a year earlier at 289. Of the retirees, more than a third are from the technological positions.
Following the data, the head of the IDF, Maj. Gen. Yaniv Ashur, sent a letter entitled “Officers leaving the organization – a crisis in the permanent population.” Among the reasons for his departure was the move to the new employment model in 2016, according to which the army can decide on the dismissal of a permanent member in two windows – one at the age of 28 and the other at the age of 35. The IDF has also set quotas for dismissals.
In conversations with senior officers, it is argued that one of the main reasons for the crisis is the image of permanent staff in the critical public discourse regarding the issue of pensions. According to a precedent from the 1950s, the chief of staff has the right to increase the percentage of the pension in what is known as the “chief of staff’s additions.” According to the Ministry of Finance, every IDF retiree currently receives a supplement ranging from 7% to 12% to his pension, when there were many cases in which the rate reached 19%. The data show that this is five times more than the average public service pension. An opinion from the Ministry of Justice from the beginning of the year stated that the supplement could not be granted en masse to all retirees. Two associations, “Financial Justice” and “Net Profit”, petitioned against the additions to the High Court. The taste of the additions and to determine in legislation their rate, means the arrangement until then was not on a real legal pedestal.
“The source of the IDF’s strength lies in the quality of its people”
In August, the date on which the state had to respond to the petition in the High Court, the outline was reached between Ganz Lieberman and Bennett, who left the chief of staff the option of additions but limited them. This arrangement is supposed to be approved by legislation, and the High Court even agreed to a postponement for that purpose, but the legislative process, as mentioned, is stuck. At the same time, the military claims that the pension is a factor of attraction in the face of the conditions and temptations outside.
The IDF spokesman said: “The source of the IDF’s strength lies in the quality of its people and in the emphasis on the Avenue of Command. The IDF invests a lot of effort so that the good and high-quality ones remain in its ranks. IDF servants work day and night for the security of the State of Israel, and the IDF “respects their work.”