Israel re-enlists previously exempt reservists

The Israeli occupation army announced yesterday that Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has instructed the re-enlistment of reservists who had recently been granted exemptions from military service but are still within the eligible age for service.

This decision comes after reevaluating the current situation and the extent of operations that include both regular and reserve forces.

According to a Defence Ministry statement, the army has begun contacting eligible reservists who served in “vital units”.

For several months, the Israeli army has been grappling with a shortage of soldiers due to its ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip, its intensified operations in the occupied West Bank, and confrontations with Hezbollah along the Lebanese border.

In July, Gallant revealed that the army urgently required an additional 10,000 soldiers amid reports of a “significant increase” in the number of officers seeking early retirement from military service.

During a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, held to discuss the law exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service, Gallant stated: “We need 10,000 soldiers immediately. We can recruit 4,800 from the ultra-Orthodox community.”

As a result of the shortage, the Israeli government approved a law in June to extend the period of reserve service by raising the exemption age. According to the proposal, non-officer reservists will serve until the age of 41 instead of 40, while officers will serve until 46 instead of 45.

While laws that exempted ultra-Orthodox Jews from the military were scrapped.

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