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News & Current Events Mar 26, 2026 at 8:38 PM

Chief of Staff Zamir warns IDF will collapse due to lack of manpower, raises 'ten red flags'

Posted by barsik_


Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warns IDF will collapse due to lack of manpower | The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com
Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir warns IDF will collapse due to lack of manpower | The Jerusalem Post
Israel would still need more soldiers in peacetime, while there is still no law set in place to significantly increase haredi conscription into the army.

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Cottager_Northeast Mar 26, 2026 +3584
There are a large number of religious conservatives who are not required to perform compulsory military duty. Draft them.
3584
homer_lives Mar 26, 2026 +1156
There have been big protests by this faction over laws to do just that. Also, I am pretty sure they are keeping Bibi Netanyahu in power.
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Relevant-Doctor187 Mar 27, 2026 +1282
The same group demand constant war isn’t willing to fight.
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hamilkwarg Mar 27, 2026 +555
Tale as old as time
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Blah_McBlah_ Mar 27, 2026 +515
What's the saying? In Israel one third serve in the army, one third work, and one third pay taxes; unfortunately all three are the same third.
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Commercial-Co Mar 27, 2026 +22
Hah
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nicklor Mar 27, 2026 +124
Actually they don't care about the war it's complicated for a comment on listnook. But the ones who want the war for the most part are heavily represented in the army
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KamtzaBarKamtza Mar 27, 2026 +129
The haredim are religious conservatives/fundamentalists. Their interest in politics goes as far as advocating for their religious beliefs and for financial support of their community.  Few haredim have strong opinions on how Israel's international relations should be conducted. 
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ceo_of_six Mar 27, 2026 +110
Aren’t these the guys with the Oliphants in Lord of the Rings
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probablygardening Mar 27, 2026 +82
Haradrim lol, close enough
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-ZeroStatic- Mar 27, 2026 +45
Aren't these the magicians part of the order set up by Tyrael to capture Diablo, Baal, and Mephisto?
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MuffinMountain3425 Mar 27, 2026 +37
That's the Horadrim, but close.
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mlkefromaccounting Mar 27, 2026 +27
Stay a while, and listen..
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NetLumpy1818 Mar 27, 2026 +8
Isn’t that the beloved ape that was killed?
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lexicondevil1 Mar 27, 2026 +3
That's Harambee, but almost
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Relevant-Doctor187 Mar 27, 2026 +67
They’re part of bibis base. So they support it what’s going on cause they voted for him.
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KamtzaBarKamtza Mar 27, 2026 +69
They are extremely narrow in their focus. They will support a government that enables them to pursue their religious interests and that makes funds available to their community. If centrist/leftist parties were in a position to form a coalition and gave the haredi community what they wanted the haredim would happily join that coalition. In your earlier post you wrote that they "demand constant war".  That is simply incorrect
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matarbis Mar 27, 2026 +77
So they’re selfish idiots?
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hbtljose13 Mar 27, 2026 +190
It was already stated they’re religious conservatives
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Different_Stand_1285 Mar 27, 2026 +21
They also receive benefits and have massive families. Those massive families get more benefits. They’re a drain on their society and if shit gets hard they won’t even fight for it.
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matarbis Mar 27, 2026 +25
Yea I guess I was kinda stating the obvious lol
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nasnedigonyat Mar 27, 2026 +29
I wish I could upvote this response more than once
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meesta_masa Mar 27, 2026 +7
I just removed my upvote and upvoted again.
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WatRedditHathWrought Mar 27, 2026 +7
By “make fund available” what do you mean? Do these same people contribute to the tax base. Or are they like the religions in America and are tax exempt?
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DrXaos Mar 27, 2026 +17
yes they are more taker than contributor of course
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eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +6
They aren't tax exempt, but per a study a few years ago, only the top 10% of haredi households are net positive in terms of tax revenue vs benefits.
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Prize-Temporary4159 Mar 27, 2026 +3
How about settlements? Is that high on their list of religious interests?
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eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +10
Those aren't haredim for the most part
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KamtzaBarKamtza Mar 27, 2026 +7
No, they are not. There are a few hareidi neighborhoods with West Bank settlement communities but their presence there is driven by financial interests (property is significantly cheaper across the green line). Chareidim are, by and large, not ideologically driven in terms of feeling compelled to settle all of biblical Eretz Yisrael
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np9131 Mar 27, 2026 +8
This seems like a similar argument that other people say against Americans who they didnt vote for trump. All Americans need to get their house in order no doubt but in the same vein Israelis need to do them same.
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Gnagus Mar 27, 2026 +5
I don't believe the haredim are part of his base since he is likud and they tend to be in religious specific parties. I think they could be more accurately described as a smaller coalition members. They don't care what he does as long as his governments enable their specific issues. It's a pretty loose definition of support.
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TheRC135 Mar 27, 2026
> Few haredim have strong opinions on how Israel's international relations should be conducted. Aren't these the people evicting Palestinians from their land to build settlements?
0
KamtzaBarKamtza Mar 27, 2026 +12
No, they are not
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anztanz Mar 27, 2026 +7
They have several settlements built on palestinian villages in the west bank, like [Modi'in Illit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modi%27in_Illit)
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KamtzaBarKamtza Mar 27, 2026 +6
In the case of the Hareidi population their presence in settlements beyond the green line is entirely driven by financial concerns. Property is much cheaper across the green line. Their presence in those settlements is not ideologically driven
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TheRC135 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Stolen land is c****? You don't say. Above you said they aren't the ones evicting Palestinians to build settlements, here you're saying their settlements aren't ideologically driven. Which is it? And I'm not sure what your point is when you try to distinguish between "ideologically driven" and "financial concerns." That distinction matters little to the people being removed from their land, and there's no denying that the settlements are a major friction point that prevents meaningful progress towards lasting peace.
1
jewami Mar 27, 2026 +11
The conservatives he is mentioning are not the same thing as conservative war-hawks like in the US. They are the "ultra-Orthodox" who do not believe in joining the army because they believe they will lose their religiosity by entering such an environment. That, and funding for their schools, are what they care about.
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Sockoflegend Mar 27, 2026 +1
Funny that
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DastardlyMime Mar 27, 2026 +2
Typical conservatives
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ghost103429 Mar 27, 2026 +41
Bibi netanyahu is the Prime Minister of a minority government ie he has less than half of Parliament backing him which makes him an easy target for a simple no confidence vote to get rid of him. Unfortunately the opposition parties hate each other more than Bibi. Israel's no confidence rules require that a replacement be selected before a no confidence vote be held and with no majority selected to back a replacement, he gets to keep his office. To get rid of him you'd need a far right Israeli party to partner with centrists and the far left to select a new Prime Minister...
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eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +16
Not exactly. Netanyahu's coalition included 68 seats of 120. There are a couple of parties (Avi Maoz and some of the haredim who occasionally leave and rejoin due to not getting what they want but they still won't vote to bring Netanyahu down as they want things from him. The actual opposition does not have the votes. Note that instead of no-confidence, had they a majority they could dissolve the Knesset, which triggers new elections and does not require naming a replacement PM candidate.
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Diamondhands_Rex Mar 27, 2026 +5
Do it anyway let them see what they have been doing and see if they still want to do it.
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swiminthemud Mar 27, 2026 +132
Are these the settlers we constantly see treating Palestinians like absolute dogshit?
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dschwarz Mar 27, 2026 +129
Generally speaking the extremist settler groups tend more toward national-religious than ultra-orthodox. They already are obliged to serve in the military.
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swiminthemud Mar 27, 2026 +20
Thanks for the insight, doesnt really absolve the assholes that are doing it however
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Proxy-Pie Mar 27, 2026 +9
No. The ones who refuse to enlist are the Ultra Orthodox AKA Haredis, who are ambivalent about Palestinians. The settlers on the other hand do enlist but many are frequently rejected on the grounds that they'll commit hate crimes.
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DongerOfDisapproval Mar 27, 2026 +15
Those settlers typically are rejected by the military. Ben Gvir at al were never drafted because the army doesn't want this kind of extremism.
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[deleted] Mar 26, 2026 +181
[removed]
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Drak_is_Right Mar 26, 2026 +142
Issue is the ultra orthodox dont contribute to the economy much and are a drain on social resources.
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letsgotgoing Mar 26, 2026 +18
That’s what children represent to an economy and why it’s cheaper to have replacement migration than support domestic birth rates. At least since child labor laws happened. That was when the economics of families changed. Kids went from helping support a family to costing the family. 
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vulcanstrike Mar 26, 2026 +61
The issue with the ultra orthodox is that they have large families who then go on to have equally large families that start to exponentially drain the economy. These kids will never be productive in their life as the ultra orthodox have carved out a legal and social status that means they never have to work and can devote their life to study the holy books. This was a debatable need when Israel was founded, it's now entirely unneeded but very difficult to remove as the ultra orthodox population growth only increases their power every election cycle
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seithat Mar 26, 2026 +156
Secular Israelis have a higher birth rate than any western country.
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WeirdJack49 Mar 26, 2026 +33
Their will be a point where over half of the population refuses to do mandatory military service. Its unsustainable.
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[deleted] Mar 26, 2026 +1
[removed]
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eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +5
Haredi women are better educated than the men on average. They also work. And non-haredi Israelis also have a higher birthrate than the Western average.
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SuspiciousTruth1602 Mar 26, 2026 +24
They don't work, they are not productive members of society, Israel will fall of they keep increasing in population
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yuvaldv1 Mar 26, 2026 +22
I actually think it's the other way around. Israel is tiny and cannot support an exploding population. If being drafted into the military will make the ultra orthodox have less kids, it would be for the best.
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big_trike Mar 26, 2026 +10
There’s a whole lot of empty land in the Negev
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nicklor Mar 27, 2026 +4
The women actually have more higher education / college degrees than the men in that community. They work while the men can study all day.
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Benman415 Mar 26, 2026 +11
I mean you're just incorrect. Ultra orthodox women are quite involved in the world, most have jobs and often a degree of education. The men are the ones sequestered into studies all day. The women are not locked away.
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ButtflossingBigBro Mar 26, 2026 +13
Lmfao the women who arent allowed to learn english have their own money and gotta marry at 12 are not free
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eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +3
Where the hell did you get this idea?
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spinbutton Mar 26, 2026 +3
I'm sure the women of Israel don't need to learn English unless they want to. Isn't He rew their official language?
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eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +3
Most women do; it's a mandatory subject in school and for a matriculation diploma.
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ButtflossingBigBro Mar 26, 2026 +10
Not need. The ultraorthodox women are banned form learning it
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ItzikMa Mar 27, 2026 +3
That’s incorrect
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HiFromChicago Mar 26, 2026 +10
>Israel has solved the deomgraphics crisis. ***women uneducated and turned into baby factories.*** **False:** \*\*\*\*Haredi women are employed at high rates… about 74% "Haredi women are employed at high rates, despite their high fertility rates, and the rates are similar among married and unmarried women." "Employment rates are particularly high among non-Haredi Jewish women (82%) and Haredi women (74%), despite relatively high fertility rates (2.6 and 7 children per woman, respectively)." [The Labor Market: An Overview ](https://www.taubcenter.org.il/en/research/the-labor-market-an-overview/) \*\*\*\*The ultra-Orthodox only make up approximately 13.6 of the population. "At the end of 2023 Israel’s Haredi community numbered 1,335,000, 13.6% of the total population." [The Annual Assessment of the Jewish People 2024 | 5784 - The Jewish People Policy Institute](https://jppi.org.il/en/%D7%94%D7%A2%D7%A8%D7%9B%D7%94-%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%AA%D7%99%D7%AA-2024/s/5.4/)
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Jackal239 Mar 26, 2026 +17
Employment does not equal education and freedom.
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Whatwhyreally Mar 26, 2026 +41
lol you mean the same group that wants the war?
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yabuddy42069 Mar 27, 2026 +33
They want war but want someone else to do the fighting (and pay for it).
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PatrickTravels Mar 26, 2026 +8
Civil conflict ensues. They are a large part of the population. They are not afraid to protest and get rowdy.
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Different_Lychee_409 Mar 27, 2026 +3
They'll just make a nuisance of themselves. Wouldn't work.
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dkmegg22 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Do you really want people in the army who don't want to be there.
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Timely_Law7614 Mar 26, 2026 +1075
I remember reading this about Russia within two weeks of the invasion like six years ago. Doesn't mean shit
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Khamvom Mar 27, 2026 +388
The wording is a bit of an exaggeration. The IDF isn’t anywhere near organizational collapse (even with current manpower shortages). A big part of his job as the Chief of Staff though is drumming up long-term political + policy support for the armed forces (recruiting, funding, resources, etc), and this type of language pushes lawmakers to consider it more seriously.
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ExtremeMuffin Mar 27, 2026 +61
Man responsible for securing funding suggest collapse if funding not provided. More news at 11. 
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yetifile Mar 26, 2026 +94
It kind of did happen in the sense that they have long since lost almost all of their actually trained and experienced soldiers.
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Slow-Seaweed-5232 Mar 26, 2026 +61
Ya but Israel hasn’t had near the amount of losses my guess it’s a mistranslation
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YonatanShofty Mar 27, 2026 +30
Not exactly a mistranslation, just not enough context. The war requires more personal. Mandatory service in Israel used to be 36 months but got reduced to 32 months severel years ago. He is telling the government- if you don't draft the religious haredim (who currently are exempt from Mandatory service) and make the Mandatory time back to 36 months the army cannot keep all of its fronts under control. He said that as a response to the government approving more settlements in the west Bank- which in turn adds more places that the idf need to protect
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redsquizza Mar 27, 2026 +4
Wouldn't the religious guys just be useless soldiers anyway? They'd probably rather go to prison than be drafted? Which then fills your prisons up with people you have to look after.
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Snoutysensations Mar 27, 2026 +3
Not exactly.  There's actually a steady flow of religious guys secularizing when they get exposed to the rest of society  Somewhere around 10-15% of the ultra religious choose to leave their otherwise very isolated and closed community -- and that's with no military service, and with very young marriage the norm.   Which is why they really really don't want their 18 year old boys joining a basically secular institution and mingling with other young Israelis for 3 years.  They imagine that 10-15% rate will double or triple.   The army's not stupid.  They know they can turn these kids into soldiers.  Most of them, at least.  Armies have been molding low quality teenage boys into fighters for a very long time.    
3
ForwardHuckleberry26 Mar 27, 2026 +37
Israel is also a minuscule country with a population several times smaller than Russia
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Slow-Seaweed-5232 Mar 27, 2026 +17
For sure but even per capita Russia has lost ton more
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coldblade2000 Mar 27, 2026 +17
The absolute army headcount is probably more important than the per-capita army headcount. Israel has roughly the same population as NYC. Even if 5% of their population was an active soldier, they'd have a smaller military than Ukraine or Iran, let alone Russia.
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Slow-Seaweed-5232 Mar 27, 2026 +2
Yes but we’re talking about losses they haven’t even loss 1k soldiers since Oct 7th I’m pretty sure. May not even be 500. The guys whole point was that Russia still going despite losing like 500k soldiers and occupying massive territory. My point is Israel barely had any losses so doubt they’re super low on manpower. Another person responded it’s more likely a request to draft the haredim and telling the far right in the government not enough troops to do everything they’re doing and protect new settlements
2
Titanguy101 Mar 27, 2026 +10
They've yet to experience a ground invasion in iran
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Slow-Seaweed-5232 Mar 27, 2026 +16
There’s no reason for them to. They invaded Gaza and Lebanon though since those are neighbors and Iran isn’t
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SikeShay Mar 27, 2026 +1
They have no reason to when they can send their lapdog USA lmao
1
jenya_ Mar 27, 2026 +5
> reading this about Russia within two weeks of the invasion like six years ago Looking back, it was kind of true. The first nine months Russia was losing due to its small army. They lost Kherson and a big part around Kharkiv. Only after declaring a partial mobilization in the fall 2022 they were able to start advancing again.
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ProfessionalMovie759 Mar 27, 2026 +4
6 or 4?
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Aedeus Mar 27, 2026 +4
>doesn't mean shit What are you talking about? Russia went to absurd lengths to prevent that collapse, e.g. partial mobilization, increasingly high signing bonuses, voiding or negating contract terms, stop loss, coercive recruitment practices, penal battalions, PMC's, etc.
4
funky_boar Mar 26, 2026 +3
If we're already pulling the numbers out of our asses, why not go for 20 years ago? How is this even upvoted?
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DTH2001 Mar 27, 2026 +1
They have a large non-ethnic Russian population that they can send as cannon fodder
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FieryXJoe Mar 27, 2026 +1
Israel isn't the largest country on earth with a long history of fighting meatgrinder wars.
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Just_the_nicest_guy Mar 26, 2026 +518
>Before Operation Roaring Lion, the government was rapidly advancing controversial legislation that was said to enforce haredi conscription. >... >Netanyahu announced at the beginning of Operation Roaring Lion that the draft bill would be “set aside” for unity reasons and would not be advanced during the war. Isn't it amazing how every time Netanyahu is in a tough political spot there's suddenly a new crisis that requires everyone to shut up about it for the sake of unity? You could almost be forgiven for wondering if these crises are sometimes manufactured for exactly that reason.
518
frecklie Mar 27, 2026 +45
He’s a lying dictator who has more in common with Putin or Mugabe than he does a legitimate western ruler
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londongastronaut Mar 26, 2026 +33
I read it as the opposite, that they put extending the draft on hold because of the war. Wouldn't he want to extend the draft? I assume he would want this to pass.
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Thurak0 Mar 26, 2026 +73
> I assume he would want this to pass. No, because it would put his government in jeopardy. Oh, and the government is fighting against the courts here on this topic. Very spicy situation overall.
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Chengar_Qordath Mar 26, 2026 +40
As I understand it, the issue could potentially break up his coalition. The ultranationalists want more military manpower, while the religious conservatives want to keep their exemptions, and those are Netanyahu’s two main pillars of support.
40
eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +3
No. The draft bill which was put on hold was one which would effectively enshrine the haredi draft exemptions into law (although that's not how its proponents presented it). It was very contraversial wven inside the coalition.
3
Personal-Try328 Mar 27, 2026 +5
Are we really pretending that this is more likely to be the cause rather than having a hawkish Iran hating US president and using that as an opportunity to take out / severely harm Israel’s main geopolitical rival and the above is just taking further advantage of the current situation. I swear in the last 5 years this website has just started reaching for crazy conspiracies and touting them as the truth all the while a perfectly reasonable explanation is right there in front of them.
5
jefe_hook Mar 27, 2026 +87
Maybe they should recall Bibi's son from America
87
GuiltyAnalysis3316 Mar 26, 2026 +67
What does ten red flags mean?
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CmonTouchIt Mar 26, 2026 +59
....I mean it's the alarm of a red flag, times ten....?
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GBJEE Mar 27, 2026 +10
Mothertongue is french, i was like what damn my english still sucks
10
did_i_or_didnt_i Mar 27, 2026 +3
Don’t worry, nobody would ever say this. It’s probably a bad translation
3
eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +5
10 items of concern.
5
rumbleran Mar 26, 2026 +5
That all of their white flags are already bloodstained.
5
Trabian Mar 27, 2026 +2
The relationship version of Six Flags?
2
WellSpreadMustard Mar 26, 2026 +118
Thank god Israel has the lives of hundreds of thousands of US troops at their disposal /s
118
Fruitcake6969 Mar 26, 2026 +49
It’s interesting that you blame Israel and not, you know, the US government.
49
clintnibbla Mar 27, 2026 +50
They have been pushing for this war for as long as I've been alive. They struck first, and by all accounts have been pressuring the US into it for a long time. They definitely deserve most of the blame, because it seems they have major sway when it comes to US foreign policy.
50
eyl569 Mar 27, 2026 +17
Trump advocated for an invasion of Iran (and specifically Kharg Island) back in the 1980s.
17
did_i_or_didnt_i Mar 27, 2026 +2
Trump’s dad was friends with Netanyahu since then too
2
von_pita_the_second Mar 27, 2026 +5
So you decide to ignore the 2 times earlier in this war where Iran decided to help its proxies ( which has attacked Israel for a few decades by now ) by launching ballistic missile and UAV waves in 2 separate “mini conflicts”, without Israel attacking Iran first, in addition to as I said Iran’s proxies attacking and being at war with Israel since the end of the 1st Lebanon war ( Hezbollah ) and since the 2nd intifada if not earlier ( Hamas )
5
Lonely_Dig2132 Mar 27, 2026 +20
Have you heard about the Epstein files
20
Shaquarington_Bithus Mar 27, 2026 +2
I mean the statement is true. Yeah the buck stops with Trump and Trump is the reason the statement is true. But it’s true.
2
getdafkout666 Mar 26, 2026 +24
Don’t threaten me with a good time 
24
Oren_Lester Mar 27, 2026 +12
That's it, thats the limit of Israel power? 4 days in southern Lebanon against no army ?
12
blackcain Mar 27, 2026 +12
There seems to be a lot of settlers that should be press ganged.
12
RickyRetardo__ Mar 27, 2026 +19
If the settlers are drafted, who is going to fulfill the very important job of displacing the Palestinians from their lands in the Westbank?
19
blackcain Mar 27, 2026 +5
Trump ?
5
jewami Mar 27, 2026 +7
The settlers mostly all serve, the people who don't are the haredim (ultra-Orthodox). They, more or less, don't live in the West Bank. There are some settlements like Beitar and Modiin Illit right on the border, but otherwise not.
7
RedikhetDev Mar 27, 2026 +2
I always found it difficult to imagine how such a small country could fight so many battles on different fronts. Funding a war is the easiest part but then you need also somebody to pick up the gun.
2
ddgk2_ Mar 27, 2026 +9
Won't they just use the US Marines and Army?
9
TangerineFew6845 Mar 27, 2026 +9
They won’t run out of manpower until the last military aged citizen in USA is out there fighting for them.
9
Sedert1882 Mar 26, 2026 +6
Don't threaten me with a good time.
6
[deleted] Mar 26, 2026 +5
[removed]
5
DoubleJumps Mar 26, 2026 -7
Good. It should collapse.
-7
SeptonMeribaldGOAT Mar 26, 2026 -3
Dont you threaten me with a good time
-3
Majestic-Two3474 Mar 26, 2026 +3
oh how sad….
3
CreamPuzzleheaded300 Mar 27, 2026 +1
Couldn't happen quick enough
1
redheadedandbold Mar 27, 2026 -4
If there's a God..
-4
Independent_Yak_9128 Mar 27, 2026 -2
I thought this is why Israel is using the US
-2
Ancient_Ship2980 Mar 27, 2026 +1
I have been wondering how the ever widening fighting in the Middle East would be supportable for Israel, even with U.S. military aid. There are limits to Israel's arsenal and munitions, even with U.S. assistance. There are also limits to the manpower available to the Israeli armed forces, even if Israeli expanded the draft pool dramatically.
1
greatsleepingcat Mar 27, 2026 +1
Send bibi himself into the battlefield since hes such a very very brave man. Tell him to bring his pal mcdonald
1
tripy75 Mar 27, 2026 +1
good. let them collapse. They will maybe stay inside their borders that way.
1
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