About 30 officers and commanders published a letter stating that the current draft outline is a “serious security danger to the nation and the continuation of the war”, this was reported for the first time in “Haaretz” today (Tuesday). The letter is intended for the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahuto the Minister of Defense, Yoav Galantto the members of the political-security cabinet, to the chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Security Committee, Yuli Edelsteinand to the head of the National Assembly, Tzachi Hangabi.
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“We, commanders in the reserves, in field units and headquarters, would like to strengthen your hands, demand your help and warn of an approaching security threat,” is how the letter opens, in which they make it clear that despite the criticism “we will go wherever we are needed, whenever we are needed, and we will lead and lead the Our soldiers do as we do.”
The commanders warn that the new reserve outline, according to which “the number of reserve days of our soldiers will be doubled and even more, from 18 to 42 reserve days per year, and up to 55 reserve days for officers per year” and in addition, “the age of exemption from the reserve has been extended by five years, up to the age of 52. And it was published that the possibility of activating Order 8 more easily is being considered, this is at the same time as the unwillingness of the political echelon to act so that the number of servants will be increased, so that people who today do not take part in the defense of the state will be recruited into the army.
In the letter, they demand from “the people responsible by law and by virtue of your authority for our routine and emergency operations, to stand firm and prevent any discriminatory and offensive recruitment plan of this kind. Things must be said, and the cry of our soldiers must be heard: the planned reserve plan is extremely unequal, and tries to solve the need More soldiers in the easiest way for the politicians – increasing the load on the few who are already serving.”
The commanders continue to warn that “the outline imposes enormous hardship on our soldiers, and as a result also on us, the commanders. We warn that under the new outline the IDF will no longer be the people’s army” and that “this is an outline that will greatly intensify injustice and inequality, and perpetuate severe discrimination between blood to blood”.
They complain about “the injustice and inequality are crying out to the heavens in reference to the fact that there are entire communities in Israel who do not serve at all, and within the framework of the planned ‘conscription law’ are supposed to receive an exemption from the state, enshrined in law, from military or civilian service.” The fear is that “the reserve system will not be able to meet the requirements, to the point of difficulty in manning missions. We demand that you change the conscription law, and the outline of the reserves within it, in such a way that there will be an equal distribution of the burden of military, national and civil service.”
Yair Lapid on the Conscription Law (Photo: MK Spokesperson’s Office)
The outline must, according to the commanders and officers who signed the letter, “guarantee that all the public in Israel will risk their lives and contribute to the country in various ways, and that we and especially our soldiers will not be the ones who carry the burden alone.”
At the end of the letter, they conclude: “We wish to inform and warn that the proposed outline seriously harms the security of the state. The human damage to the principle of the people’s army, the increase in attrition, the blow to motivation, the damage to the SDF and the execution capabilities – everything is laid before you. You can’t say “we didn’t know”. We trust you to do the right thing for the country and its security.”
As a reminder, the bill includes, among other things, the determination of recruitment quotas by the Knesset, a one-year time frame for compliance with these quotas and an extension if necessary. Failure to meet the goals for ultra-Orthodox recruitment will result in economic sanctions, which will come into effect in three years and in proportion to meeting the goals.
Another section, which talks about raising the age of exemption to 35, is causing an uproar in the government. This, while the professional level in the Ministry of Finance is completely isolated from the contacts on the matter. Senior officials in the Treasury conveyed a message to the government, according to which if the exemption age is approved to 35, it will be an “economic disaster” that will make it difficult for Haredim to integrate into the job market. The professional echelon of the Ministry of Finance formulates a strong opinion against the government’s decision on this issue.
According to senior economic officials, the postponement of the exemption age will result in about 200,000 ultra-Orthodox men not going to work, in a way that will damage Israel’s economy in an unbearable way. “The employment of ultra-Orthodox men is already today Israel’s biggest economic challenge. Raising the exemption age will stick sticks in the wheels and damage the situation even more.”