The sources said more than 3,000 junior officers have committed to serve
another tour of duty. They said this marked a 33 percent increase since
2007, when the military launched a program to halt the exodus of
lieutenants, captains and majors.
"We understood that we had to invest money to keep people in the
service," a senior officer told the Jerusalem Post daily. "While we could
not compete with the private sector, we have other incentives to offer:
Zionism, a sense of contribution to the state and meaningful work."
The officer said the exodus of junior officers forced the military to
accept lower-quality cadets into the officer corps. The departure of
hundreds of officers began after the unsuccessful war against Hizbullah in
2006, which sparked accusations of incompetence against senior commanders.
In 2007, Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi approved a plan to
encourage junior officers to remain in the military, particularly the Army.
Ashkenazi agreed to allocate more than $6 million in financial incentives
to coax officers to remain in the military.
Junior officers have been given a greater workload along with such
incentives as bonuses and loans. The Army has declined in manpower by 10,000
since 2005.
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