In a letter to soldiers Friday evening, IDF Personnel Chief Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa said the extension of mandatory service to 32 months is an operational necessity to meet wartime challenges. He stressed the need for an effective conscription law and warned further extension may be needed, and announced increased subsistence pay for the additional two months of service.
IDF Personnel Chief Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa sent a letter to soldiers Friday evening, following the Knesset's approval of the extension of mandatory military service to 32 months (two years and eight months). In the letter, obtained by N13/Army Radio, Bar Kalifa said the war situation demands extraordinary physical and mental effort, and that the extension is an operational necessity to meet the military's challenges and provide minimal breathing room.
He stressed that the extension does not eliminate the need for an effective conscription law that would broaden the pool of enlistees, and warned that further extension of mandatory service may be necessary. Bar Kalifa also announced that soldiers whose service is extended will be eligible for increased subsistence pay for the additional two months.
The letter comes after the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee approved the 32-month service extension earlier Friday, as The Zioneer reported. The decision was passed amid ongoing debate over service length, with the IDF having requested a 36-month term and warnings from the chief of staff that the military could collapse without longer service. The extension is set to apply to all soldiers who enlisted from July 2024 onward, with a planned return to 30 months in 2029.
2 developments
- DevelopingIDF Personnel Chief: Extending mandatory service does not replace need for broader conscription
- DevelopingIDF Personnel Chief calls for extending mandatory service to 36 months
- StrongDraft crisis solution emerges: 32-month service stays, no cut or extension
- StrongGovernment secretary: fix 32-month service now, defer 36-month debate until after elections
Source and signal
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