Despite the severe manpower crisis in the IDF as well as the profound lack of officers at the captain and major rank levels, the military is being forced to "fire" dozens of officers for whom there are no replacements.
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This is due to an agreement reached with the Finance Ministry that came into effect in 2016, according to which career officers now have to pass through two organizational gateways before they are awarded permanent tenure, which guarantees them eventual retirement with a bridging pension.
Video: IDF Chief of the General Staff LTG Herzi Halevi stresses the importance of unity. Credit; IDF
The first gateway comes at the age of 28 and the second at the age of 35. A process of performance appraisal is conducted at each organizational gateway for the specific career officer, and then subsequently a decision is made whether or not to enable that officer to continue serving or to let him go.
A career officer reaching the second organizational gateway, who has not attained the rank of lieutenant colonel or above, is then required to leave the military. In other words, the army de facto dismisses him.
However, there is a clear anomaly here, as the IDF is required to release those officers even though it does not have other officers to take their place due to the mass departure of officers in recent years.
As part of the agreement reached by the Finance Ministry and the IDF, it was agreed to approve some 900 positions of professional officers with the rank of major, with the ministry not approving the military's request to increase the number by an additional 350 positions.
As a result of the lack of positions, numerous functions in the army are either unmanned or manned by young and inexperienced officers.
We should recall that the IDF is currently facing one of the largest manpower crises in its history, and in the last two years has had to contend with a constant stream of officers deciding to leave.
In February, Israel Hayom revealed that 613 officers with the rank of major left the IDF of their own volition in 2022 – a 70% increase compared to 2020.
According to new figures obtained by Israel Hayom, despite the current rifts within Israeli society, during the first half of 2023 only a minor decline was recorded in the number of officers deciding to leave the army on their own initiative compared with 2022.
In the first six months of 2022, the number stood at 217 officers with the rank of major, while in the same period in 2023, it was "only" 180. Traditionally, however, most officers tend to leave during the second half of the year.
According to the updated forecasts in the IDF Manpower Directorate, by the end of the year, some 540 officers with the rank of major will have left of their own volition. However, the forecast was written before the so-called reasonableness law was passed in the Knesset and prior to the declarations by thousands of reservists that they will cease their volunteer duty.
As such, there is grave concern within the IDF that the trend of career officers leaving will only get worse. It is safe to say that career officers will not make any public announcements but will simply not extend their service contracts.
As mentioned above, when senior officers leave en masse, the army either remains with unmanned positions or ones that are manned by inexperienced officers, which poses a considerable inherent danger that with time, the IDF will gradually become a mediocre military.
The manpower crisis is grave regardless of the government's recent steps to push ahead with the judicial reform and career officers are reluctant to remain within the system in view of the low salaries they earn relative to the endless hours they put in, the hostile public attitude towards them, their inability to lead a reasonable family life and the fact that the army can simply decide not to extend their service if they fail to pass through the organizational gateways.
The shift from the budgetary pension model to the cumulative pension has also greatly contributed to the exodus of officers as although it reduces the public cost of the career officers' pensions it also decreases the extent to which they are invested in the system.
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Over the last year, the IDF has adopted a number of measures to curb this trend, and among others, has granted bonuses to the serving officers and has sent them to take part in a variety of educational and promotional activities. Having said that, even when there is a distinctly severe lack of officers – and there are many who are prepared and even willing to remain in the system – at the end of the day it is the red tape that beats everything.
Just a few days ago, the IDF General Staff Forum – led by Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi – held a special one-day seminar dealing with the manpower issue.
Halevi said the matter was of utmost importance and one that genuinely needs to be addressed in his new Ma'alot multiannual plan.
