Israeli Army Radio revealed on Tuesday a shortage of combat-capable personnel and tanks, and said that some reserve force formations are in a state of “virtually collapsing”.
Under the headline “Army warns of collapse of reserve forces,” the radio station said: “Here’s what the situation looks like from the inside: empty brigades and battalions, not enough tanks, and attendance rates do not reflect reality.”
She added: “In recent days, a reserve armored brigade was deployed to take over an important operational sector in the security sector in Lebanon, but in reality, the testimonies of commanders and soldiers tell a different story than what the decision-makers are saying. These are not full brigades, they are far from it.”
She explained that the army no longer had a sufficient number of combat-ready tanks, after many of them were damaged in battles and taken out of service, which “forced the reserve tank companies to operate with fewer tanks.”
Since October 2023, the Israeli army has been waging aggression on multiple fronts, most notably the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, in addition to reciprocal attacks with Iran and the Houthi group in Yemen, as well as repeated attacks on Syria while escalating its military operations in the occupied West Bank.
The radio station said the army is recalculating reserve force attendance rates in a way that makes them appear relatively high, by calling up fewer soldiers in the first place, while some of those called up only attend for limited periods.
She added: “Therefore, even units where attendance rates range between 50 and 70 percent are actually in a much worse position at any given time.”
One of the reserve formation commanders, who was not named, was quoted as saying that “the reserve units are empty today, the battalion is not a complete battalion, and the company is not a company in the true sense.”
He continued: “The public and decision-makers hear about entire brigades in Lebanon, but in reality it is a much smaller unit. The number of soldiers, tanks and vehicles is much lower.”
He added: “Some of the reserve formations are in a state of actual collapse. There are units in better shape and others in worse shape, and everyone is doing their best, but it is difficult to continue in this situation.”
The army radio station cited another example from the field, saying: “A reserve company that recently completed its operational mission in Lebanon has only one officer left: the company commander was relieved of his duties, and there is no sergeant major in it. (...) There is no chain of command in the company; it is run haphazardly.”
The Israeli army does not specify the number of its forces deployed in Lebanon, the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or Syria.
These developments come as the Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot reported on July 10 that the Israeli army has begun a broad reduction in reserve soldier call-ups, linking this to what it described as the “decline of wars on multiple fronts.”
But the newspaper “Israel Hayom” said on July 5 that the army is preparing to discharge thousands of reserve soldiers by the end of the month, amid financial difficulties facing the military establishment.
The Israeli military establishment is facing a severe funding crisis following an unprecedented rise in operational-related expenses, resulting in a deficit estimated at tens of billions of shekels (the dollar is equivalent to 3 shekels).
