The IDF has been warning for some time of a severe crisis in its career service ranks. The crisis has now reached a boiling point and is threatening Israel's national security. Data revealed by Israel Hayom show that because of the wave of departures, almost anyone willing to remain in the IDF is being promoted to the ranks of lieutenant colonel and major. The immediate meaning is clear: a clear drop in the quality of IDF officers.
These are no longer general statements but hard IDF figures. Four years ago, about 800 officers competed for roughly 400 lieutenant colonel positions, a ratio of two candidates per job. Recently, only about 500 officers have been competing for the same number of posts, a ratio of about 1.25 candidates per job. The troubling implication is that nearly anyone who wants to reach the rank of lieutenant colonel, the rank held by battalion commanders and branch heads in the IDF, gets it. Positions are filled, but the army has little real ability to choose who fills them because demand is so low.
A rapid climb through the ranks
The problem begins at the lower officer ranks of captain and major, where the largest share of high quality officers are leaving. According to IDF data, the acute shortage of majors has forced the military to promote captains to major after just a year and two months, or at most a year and a half, simply to fill positions. In the past, the average time to advance from captain to major was about three and a half years.
As a result, officers who reach the rank of major and assume the heavy responsibilities that come with it arrive less prepared, and "burn out" more quickly. Many choose not to continue with the demanding military lifestyle and instead leave for civilian jobs that are usually easier and often better paid.
Some argue that the IDF is exaggerating when it warns of a manpower crisis. But the figures published here, together with previously reported departure numbers, show the crisis is real and serious. The long term damage is clear. As high quality commanders leave, their best subordinates often follow, and the army as a whole gradually becomes mediocre.
If the career service becomes mediocre, the implications for Israel's security and the IDF's ability to win wars are enormous. The career army is the cornerstone of both the reserves and the conscript force. If parents know that their son's commander is average rather than excellent, they will be far less eager to send him to combat service.
Months ago, the IDF's Personnel Directorate rolled out a plan to retain career soldiers, including housing benefits, bonuses and expanded support for service members and their families. The plan has run into obstacles created by the state, including ongoing threats to career soldiers' terms of service and a continued negative public discourse about their conditions.
Senior IDF officials are particularly frustrated that despite a High Court of Justice deadline for legislation on so called chief of staff pension supplements, the Knesset is dragging its feet. The delay is largely due to objections from a single lawmaker, MK Amit Halevi.
Hundreds seeking to leave
As previously reported, the lack of legislation has already prompted more than 500 officers to submit requests for immediate discharge. In the meantime, the military is trying to delay their departures, arguing that it will manage to resolve the issue with the Knesset.
Halevi argues, among other things, that young career officers do not stay because of pensions but for other reasons. Even if that is partly true, there is no doubt that younger career soldiers see the repeated hits to senior officers' pay and the public rhetoric of recent years portraying career soldiers as draining public funds. They understand that while career service once provided economic security, that is no longer the case.
Add to this the heavy workload, harsh conditions, risk to life and family pressure, and the picture becomes clear. Without a meaningful change in public discourse and genuine recognition of career service, lasting damage will be done, with consequences that will also be felt in the outcomes of future IDF wars.
The IDF hopes that housing benefits, bonuses, incentives and expanded family support will halt and even reverse the trend. But as long as the state fails to grasp the urgency of the situation and take meaningful steps to show respect for those who serve, including ending the disparaging rhetoric, it is doubtful that the reality on the ground will change.
