Khaberni - Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, has warned that Israel is heading toward a "security disaster" because of a significant shortage of army forces, accusing the government of driving the army towards what he described as "collapse". Also, the Chief of Staff of the Israeli army issued a warning about the situation of the army.
Lapid said in a televised statement, "The Israeli army has reached its maximum capacity and beyond. The government is letting the army bleed in the battlefield," repeating a warning previously issued by Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir to the Security Cabinet, according to Israeli media reports.
Lapid also accused the government of dragging the army into a "multi-front war without a strategy, without the necessary means, and with very few soldiers".
Zamir: The army is on the verge of collapse
Media reports quoted Zamir telling the Security Cabinet that "The Israeli army is on the verge of collapse".
Lapid pointed out that Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir informed the Cabinet of the presence of reserve soldiers serving for the sixth or seventh time, stating they are "exhausted and drained, no longer able to face our security challenges". He emphasized that the army "does not have enough soldiers to carry out its tasks".
Lapid called for the recruitment of individuals from the ultra-Orthodox Haredim who have been exempt from military service since the founding of the state of Israel in 1948.
Military service is mandatory in Israel, but under a ruling issued at the establishment of the state, men who dedicate themselves to the study of Jewish texts are exempt from military service, and at that time the ultra-Orthodox Jews were a small minority.
According to an Israeli source cited by CNN, Zamir issued a striking warning during the meeting on Wednesday, saying he "raises 10 red flags" in acknowledgment that the army is under "severe pressure" due to a lack of manpower and the expansion of operational tasks.
