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  4.  » Zamir warns IDF will ‘collapse in on itself’ amid manpower shortage – report

IDF Chief of Staff Lt Gen Eyal Zamir (2nd from right)

Stav Levaton – The Times of Israel March 26, 2026

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir reportedly warned during a security cabinet meeting last night that the military will “collapse in on itself,” as it faces mounting operational demands and a growing manpower shortage.

“I am raising 10 red flags before you,” Zamir reportedly told ministers, according to Channel 13 news.

“The IDF now needs a conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service,” he is quoted as saying. “Before long, the IDF will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not hold.”

Zamir has issued similar warnings in recent months. In January, he sent a pointed letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, warning that the shortage of soldiers could harm military readiness in the very near future.

Since the war in Gaza was sparked by the Hamas-led onslaught of October 7, 2023, the military has repeatedly told lawmakers that it lacks 12,000 troops due to the strain of the conflict and other military challenges.

Ultra-Orthodox parties have demanded a law to keep their constituencies out of the military after the High Court in June 2024 ruled that there was no legal basis for the Haredi yeshiva students’ decades-long blanket exemption from the draft. Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted.

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