WSJ: The Israeli Army Is Struggling to Get Reservists to Show Up
WSJ: The Israeli Army Is Struggling to Get Reservists to Show Up
As the Israeli military prepares for a new offensive on Gaza City, military commanders are struggling to find enough reservists willing to report for duty.
Israeli troops are exhausted after nearly two years of fighting on several fronts, and more are questioning the purpose of the war. As the military is now calling up some 60,000 reservists from their jobs, studies and families to support the new mission, many are saying they are at a breaking point, according to more than 30 officers and soldiers who were interviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
Some commanders have turned to unusual methods to find enough men.
“I’m looking for combat soldiers, mainly medics and snipers for an operation of 70 days starting on September 11. If there are reservists who are interested please message me privately,” read one recent message by a commander on a WhatsApp group for Israeli university students…
The shortage has been developing for months and tracks with growing Israeli discontent over the war. Many polls show as much as 80% of the Israeli public want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to strike a deal that will end the war and bring the hostages home. Thousands of Israeli military veterans and reservists have signed petitions to stop the fighting and return the hostages.
It marks a sharp shift from how most reservists felt after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack that launched the war. In the days following the attack, many reservists voluntarily showed up to fight, believing the battle was to save their country. But that belief has gradually crumbled as the war drags on and reservists find themselves being called up again and again.
One master sergeant in the 98th commando division, who has fought for 400 days since the start of the war, including long stints in Gaza and Lebanon, said he has come to believe that people are dying for nothing and that Netanyahu is prolonging the war for his own political survival, a widely held view in parts of Israeli society. The prime minister denies the charge.,,
“I told him ‘The war is political, because none of us believes in our leadership. If it was up to me, I would ask you not to go,’” said Spektor, who leads a group called Ima Era that calls for responsible management of the war. Several reservists, especially fathers to young children, told the Journal they stopped showing up because their wives couldn’t take it anymore..
🔗SOURCE ➡️ Wall Street Journal Bypass Paywall / [Archived]
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More than 200 reservists and conscripts have signed the letter to date…
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