Special to WorldTribune.com

TEL AVIV — Israel’s military has reported a manpower shortage.

Officials said the military, particularly the Army, was facing a growing
gap in manpower requirements. They attributed the gap to a decreasing pool
of conscripts as well as cuts in the defense budget.

“The corps is half as big as it was 30 years ago,” Maj. Gen. Nimrod
Sheffer, head of the military’s Planning Division, said.

In a briefing on April 23, Sheffer warned that Israel’s military was
losing its career force and increasingly depending on reservists. He said 70
percent of the military’s 700,000 personnel were reservists, with far less
training than standing forces.

“There are fewer soldiers, and we feel it on a daily basis,” Sheffer
said.

Sheffer said no more than five percent of the military was comprised of
career personnel, a ratio far less than in NATO and other forces. He said
this has resulted in shortages in vital units, including missile defense and
cyberwarfare.

“The trend will only intensify,” Sheffer said.

Over the last year, Israel has waged a campaign to recruit Orthodox
Jews, many of whom postpone conscription through studying in theological
seminaries. Officials said the campaign failed amid budget cuts and
resistance by rabbis.

Sheffer said the military could no longer expand the army to the size of
the 1990s. He raised the prospect of additional manpower cuts amid the
constant pressure to reduce spending.

“It is not feasible for us to plan only one year ahead,” Sheffer said.
“You cannot run the military with a 12 month budget — only a long term one.
What such cuts will immediately affect is military operations rather than
structure or salaries.”

  decreasing pool of conscripts, Maj. Gen. Nimrod Sheffer, Orthodox Jews, Soldier shortage: Israel’s Army ‘half as big as it was 30 years ago’