Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir wrote a pointed letter last week to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials, warning that the current shortage of soldiers could harm military readiness in the very near future.

The letter dated January 11, and first reported by Channel 12 on Monday, was sent to the prime minister, Defense Minister Israel Katz, and head of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Boaz Bismuth. On Tuesday, Katz published the letter in full in a post on X.

It comes as Netanyahu’s government is working to pass a bill that would enshrine blanket exemptions from military conscription for Haredi yeshiva students, despite the IDF warning repeatedly that it needs more troops after two years of war.

Bismuth is the architect of the bill. Netanyahu tapped him to be the head of the Knesset committee last year instead of another Likud lawmaker who was pushed out of the post after clashing with Haredi politicians over the bill.

“The security reality in the last two years has led to unprecedented challenges and to significant effects on the various manpower arrays in the IDF,”........

© The Times of Israel