IDF Chief Says the Army Needs Every Soldier and Officer

At a Thursday evening officers’ graduation ceremony at Bahad 1, IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir said the military is facing major manpower challenges and needs broad public support. He told the audience that the current generation of commanders was called into combat “from the inferno of October 7.”

Zamir said that since that day “a generation of fighters and fighter, commanders and commanders, in regular service and reserves” has stood guard over Israel. He said that once the border was breached, responsibility immediately fell to those who rose up, led, and became “a shield wall” for Israeli civilians in body and spirit.

He emphasized, “We need every fighter and every fighter, every commander and every commander. There is no other army for this people, and there is no other people for this army.” He added that the IDF is the “people’s army,” the army of the Jewish state, and the force that ensures its existence and eternity.

Zamir said the IDF’s challenge is to balance sensitivity to Israel’s diverse populations with maintaining a common, unified framework that allows it to carry out its missions effectively. He concluded that the army will strengthen cohesion through what unites rather than divides, saying that is also part of the IDF’s ability to lead to victory.