Yedioth Ahronoth: Reserve Forces Represent a "Silent Crisis" Within the Israeli Army

SadaNews - The newspaper "Yedioth Ahronoth" reported that the Israeli army is preparing for a full year of "intensive security activity" in 2026, with around 60,000 reserve soldiers continuing to serve. These estimates emerged during joint meetings between army leadership and political officials over the past weeks.

Differences between the Israeli army and the Ministry of Finance are deepening regarding the security budget for the post-war phase, with no direct dialogue currently taking place between the two sides.

The draft items prepared for the coming year reflect a difficult security reality and a continued heavy reliance on reserve forces, with the army widely deployed across various fronts and both sides of the borders.

This means that more than half of the fighting and supporting forces will likely be in reserve dress over the next year compared to regular forces, imposing a tremendous financial burden on the security budget.

Each day of reserve service costs the state around 1,100 shekels. According to the Ministry of Finance, the total costs for reserves since the outset of the war have reached approximately 70 billion shekels from the direct budget, and an additional 110 billion shekels as indirect costs to the economy.

The military leadership is currently investigating illegal exploitation of reserve days in some units, following reports that external providers received amounts equivalent to several days of service for just one day's work.

The issues are currently being presented to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is expected to convene a meeting to resolve the dispute.

The military plans to present the scope of anticipated expenses, starting from tank and aircraft operating hours to ammunition and increasing military deployment costs. It will also present the manpower crisis that it believes threatens to turn the army into a mid-level force if not addressed quickly.