The IDF could soon collapse if there is no solution to the shortage of manpower, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir warned in remarks during a security cabinet meeting held on Wednesday.
“I am raising 10 red flags before the IDF collapses into itself,” Zamir said during the cabinet meeting, The Jerusalem Post confirmed.
IDF sources also told the Post that there is tremendous concern due to the severe manpower shortage, especially amid the ongoing war.
Even in peacetime, Israel would still need more soldiers – not fewer – on the border in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, and the West Bank, the sources said.
If the government does not add more soldiers, then there will be places with big gaps, they added.
There has also been no law set in place to significantly increase haredi (ultra-Orthodox) conscription into the army, contributing to the lack of manpower.
Before Operation Roaring Lion, the government was rapidly advancing controversial legislation that was said to enforce haredi conscription.
Critics argued the proposed bill was a political measure intended to appease the haredi parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s coalition and would not effectively enforce conscription.
Hellbound and Down 