ISTANBUL

Hundreds of career Israeli soldiers, including senior officers, have submitted requests for early retirement, deepening the military’s manpower crisis as the army struggles with shortages during its war in the Gaza Strip, local media said Wednesday.

According to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth, representatives from the army’s Personnel Administration told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that about 600 career personnel, including senior officers and professional non-commissioned officers, have asked to effectively “resign” early.

“There were those whose retirement we postponed throughout the war (in Gaza) because of their necessity, simply because there are no replacements for them,” one military official told lawmakers.

Military officials said 85% of career soldiers retire “at the rank of lieutenant colonel or below.”

Bar Kalifa, an Israeli army official who addressed the committee, linked the growing crisis to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down pension supplements for career officers.

He also pointed to “the broader issue of the IDF’s (army) manpower shortage amid the ongoing exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews” at a time when troops “began maneuvering in Gaza City.”

The army “needs another 12,000 soldiers,” he added.

On Aug. 8, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gradually reoccupy the Gaza Strip, beginning with Gaza City, before the plan was shelved after a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10.

He added that Haredi leadership “is escalating its rhetoric, and their protests are draining resources from both the army and the police.”

Kalifa also warned of a surge in draft evasion.

“We now have more than 17,000 draft dodgers. Dodging the draft has become the norm,” he said. “There’s an army of lawyers fraudulently securing exemptions for draft dodgers.”

Haredim, who make up about 13% of Israel’s population of 10 million, claim military service threatens their religious identity and community structure, as they dedicate their lives to Torah study. Prominent rabbis have urged followers to reject the draft and “tear up enlistment orders.”

For decades, most ultra-Orthodox men avoided service through repeated deferments for religious study until reaching the exemption age, currently set at 26.

Opposition lawmakers accuse Netanyahu of pushing legislation to permanently exempt the Haredim to satisfy demands by the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, both of which left the coalition earlier this year but are expected to rejoin once such a law passes.

More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 170,700 others injured in the Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023.