Bennett warns Israeli army faces risk of collapse over recruitment crisis

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett warned on Tuesday that the Israeli army faces a “risk of collapse” because of a severe shortage of soldiers, blaming Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for the ongoing recruitment crisis, particularly amid growing tensions over the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Bennett, leader of the opposition Together alliance, told Israel’s Channel 12 that he was issuing a “serious strategic security warning”, saying the army does not have enough soldiers to deal with all the threats cited by the government.

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He said prolonged rounds of fighting were exhausting soldiers and damaging their operational readiness, adding that the shortage of troops sometimes forces the army to withdraw from positions it had previously taken because it cannot provide enough soldiers to hold them.

Bennett criticised what he described as the government’s support for “avoiding military service”, saying anyone who votes for the coalition backing this approach was “directly voting against Israeli army soldiers”.

 “Netanyahu is now warning that Israel’s enemies are planning to attack, but as long as he continues to encourage mass evasion of military service and contributes to the collapse of the Israeli army, who exactly will fight them?” he said.

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