IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir told national security cabinet members recently that they should mostly forgo what he called their fantasies in relation to the Israel-Hamas War, according to a Monday Ynet report by military analyst Yoav Ziton.
Zamir told cabinet members that they should “give up on some of their fantasies” regarding the war in Gaza due to a lack of combat soldiers, Ziton said.
“Even in the current operation against Hamas, the cabinet will rely solely on IDF soldiers and not on a complementary diplomatic move,” Zamir reportedly added.
A cabinet minister told The Jerusalem Post that the Ynet report was a “complete fake,” and a second source also denied what was said in it, calling the move “reckless.”
However, a third source said that these reported comments by Zamir were “100%” told to cabinet members.
The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said earlier on Monday in response to the report, “We will not comment on what was said in closed discussions. The IDF is preparing for a wide range of developments in the war, including the mobilization of reservists to expand operations in the Gaza Strip. We will not elaborate on these plans for obvious reasons.”
By Monday evening, the IDF made another statement: “The report that was allegedly published regarding the chief of staff’s position before the political echelon pertains to what was said in a closed and operational discussion. It has been distorted, and it does not reflect the reality of the matter.”
The aforementioned cabinet minister said that this was correct.
Ziton, however, said that the IDF had backtracked due to political pressure.
Reservists tired, Haredi draft a necessity
Several members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee commented on the report about the insufficient workforce, linking it to the government’s failure to increase enlistment numbers from the ultra-Orthodox populace.
“If Hamas was the IDF’s only mission, the army is certainly strong and capable enough to handle Hamas,” according to committee chairman MK Yuli Edelstein (Likud).
“However, Hamas is not the central threat to the State of Israel at present, and it is certainly not the only threat.”
Edelstein continued, “Israel needs a larger army to stand against and defeat all of its enemies. Reservists require a stronger army to meet their goals – both in the military and as citizens.
“As I have said in the past and say now, the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews is not a matter of wishful thinking but a necessity. This is not hatred of the ultra-Orthodox but love for the state and the land of our forefathers.
“With God’s help, I will not rest until I bring forth a proper, real, and effective draft law,” he said.
MK Moshe Tur-Paz (Yesh Atid), another member of the panel, said, “Zamir quickly discovered what every reservist who has experienced a year and a half of combat and hundreds of days in the reserves already knows: The reservists are collapsing.
“Prolonged attacks on those who voice this distress will not make it disappear. Without the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews, there cannot be a strong Israel in the long run. Our security is in immediate danger,” Tur-Paz said.
MK Sharon Nir (Yisrael Beytenu), who is also a cabinet member, said, “The government must mandate the enlistment of everyone into the IDF at the age of 18 – no tricks, quotas, or targets. The draft-dodging law must be immediately removed from the agenda!”