IDF chief warns of military ‘collapse’ amid manpower crisis
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Jerusalem: Israel Defense Forces (IDF) chief Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir sounded the alarm in a security cabinet meeting that the military "is going to collapse in on itself" due to acute manpower shortages, Israeli media reported according to The Hindu reports.
"I am raising 10 red flags in front of you. Right now, the IDF needs a conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service," Zamir told ministers according to a report from Channel 13. "Before long, the IDF will not be ready for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last", quoted The Times of Israel as him saying.
The dire alert hits as Israel battles on multiple fronts: air strikes on Iran since Feb 28; Lebanon invasion against Hezbollah (4 IDF deaths since March 2, 1,070 Lebanese killed, 1M+ displaced); and West Bank deployments amid settler violence.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed PM Netanyahu's government: "Sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy, without sufficient resources, and with too few soldiers. This time, the government will not be able to say, ‘I didn’t know.’ This is the chief of staff they appointed, and they will not be able to politicise him and shift the blame onto him."