War in the Middle East: Israeli army chief of staff alarmed by lack of personnel on multiple military fronts

The Israeli army has been in a state of permanent war for over three years, which could lead to its collapse, fears the chief of staff. The political opposition is criticizing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Israeli army is on the brink of collapse, amidst war in the Middle East. The chief of staff has sounded the alarm in recent hours about the lack of soldiers. The war against Iran, which started almost a month ago, is putting a severe strain on a society and an army that have been in a state of permanent war for almost three years.

The warning from the Israeli chief of staff is serious. He stated that the army would collapse due to the lack of personnel in a multi-front war scenario. His spokesperson, Effie Defrin, specifically addressed the issue on Thursday, March 26, during a press briefing. “There’s a lack of about 15,000 soldiers in the Israeli army,” he said, “among them, between 7,000 and 8,000 fighters. The control zone in Judea and Samaria has expanded. The front in Lebanon, the advanced defense zone we are establishing, will require more forces from the Israeli army in the future, in the long term.”

“In Gaza too, along the yellow line, additional forces are needed.”

Effie Defrin, spokesperson for the Israeli army

during a press briefing

It’s simple math: the more the army irregularly occupies areas on the edges of Israeli territory, the more soldiers it needs. This is the case in Gaza, Lebanon, and Syria. The statement from the chief of staff is a double criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policy. Firstly, in relation to his ultra-Orthodox allies who are exempt from military service, which he has still not compelled to serve despite injunctions from the Supreme Court. And secondly, on his strategy of de facto annexation of what Israelis call by its biblical name Judea and Samaria: the occupied West Bank.

According to Eyal Zamir, the construction of new outposts on Palestinian land requires a military presence to contain the violence of settlers that has been escalating since the beginning of the new war. It is important to recall that Israeli settlement is illegal from the perspective of international law.

The opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu is following suit and also demanding answers from the Prime Minister. Two former Prime Ministers are not mincing their words. Yair Lapid, from the center-right, says he does not recall such a serious warning and calls on the government to forcibly enlist the ultra-Orthodox. Naftali Bennett, slightly further right than Lapid, accuses Netanyahu of tearing apart the state of Israel and immediately positions himself as an alternative to Netanyahu, as Israel is both at war and in the midst of an election year. These criticisms must be viewed in the context of a campaign that has not officially begun.