Israel Short On Soldiers After Year Of War In Gaza

The ongoing war has inflamed the public debate on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews, many of whom are exempted from military service.

Jerusalem: More than a year into the Gaza war, the Israeli army's reservists are exhausted and it is struggling to recruit soldiers just as it opens a new front in Lebanon.

Some 300,000 reservists have been called up since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, according to the army, 18 percent of them men over 40 who should have been exempted. Military service is mandatory from the age of 18 for Israeli men and women, though several exemptions apply.

Israel is waging a multi-front war against Hamas in Gaza and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon. Since the military launched its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27 last year, it has lost 367 soldiers in the campaign, while 37 have died in Lebanon since Israel began ground operations there on September 30.

Periods of reserve duty have been extended, and some reservists complain they are unable to go on with their normal lives for up to six straight months. "We're drowning," said reservist Ariel Seri-Levy in a social media post shared thousands of times.

He said he had been called up four times since the October 7 attack, and called out those who want Israel to "stay in Lebanon and Gaza". "We have to end this war because we are out of soldiers," he said, adding that while he still believed in serving one's country, "the concessions have become too great".

Another reservist and father of two told AFP under condition of anonymity that "to fatigue and moral exhaustion is added the fact that I lost my job". Many freelance workers have had to close shop because of the war, even if the government guarantees a minimum income for reservists.

"The collective is still above the individual but the cost is too great for my family," the reservist said, adding that he spent nearly six months in Gaza this year.

Ultra-Orthodox exemptions

The ongoing war has inflamed the public debate on drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews, many of whom are exempted from military service. The ultra-Orthodox account for 14 percent of Israel's Jewish population, according to the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), representing about 1.3 million people. About 66,000 of those of conscription age are exempted, according to the army.

Under a rule adopted at Israel's creation in 1948, when it applied to only 400 people, the ultra-Orthodox have historically been exempted from military service if they dedicate themselves to the study of sacred Jewish texts.

In June, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the draft of yeshiva (seminary) students after deciding the government could not keep up the exemption "without an adequate legal framework". Ultra-Orthodox political parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition called for such a framework before a vote on the budget at the end of the year.

Aryeh Deri, leader of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox party Shas, said he hoped "to solve the problem of the draft" for seminary students.

'Lighten the load'

Some 2,000 wives of reservists from the religious Zionist movement, which combines religious lifestyle with army participation, signed an open letter asking to "lighten the load for those who serve".

"There is no contradiction between Torah study and military service, both go hand in hand," academic Tehila Elitzur, mother and wife of a reservist, told the Yediot Aharonot newspaper. Six men who had volunteered despite being eligible for exemptions were killed in combat between October 22 and 28, including a father of 10.

David Zenou, a 52-year-old rabbi who fought for 250 days this year, including several weeks in Lebanon, said: "It's an honour to serve my country, and I will continue to do it for as long as I can. "Above all, let's not forget that this is war and we are short on soldiers," the father of seven and grandfather of six told AFP.

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