IDF Planning Chief Warns Regular Service Is Overstretched Amid Rising Combat Demands

Brigadier General Shay Tayeb, head of the IDF's Planning and Personnel Management Division, addressed the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee regarding the extension of mandatory military service. He emphasized the need for three legislative measures to increase manpower: an effective recruitment law, extension of regular service, and a reserve service law. Tayeb warned that the regular service framework is reaching its limit, as it spends most of the year engaged in combat operations, resulting in numerous casualties. He noted that the intensity of fighting continues to escalate.

Tayeb also highlighted unprecedented efforts to integrate soldiers from the ultra-Orthodox community but acknowledged that these measures remain insufficient. He pointed out the unusually high number of reserve duty days performed by reservists, reinforcing the necessity to extend mandatory service to meet operational demands.