During the three-year war that followed the “failure” of the Hamas-led massacre in the northwestern Negev on Oct. 7, 2023, the Jewish state “fundamentally changed” its security doctrine, Israel Defense Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Thursday.
There is no more “ignoring and no containment; there is the removal of threats before they materialize. We are engaged in a continuous process of learning, drawing lessons and implementing them,” Zamir said at a recognition event for IDF troops and security forces, organized by the State Employees’ Union, according to the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, which did not specify the location of the conference.
“For more than a thousand days, the State of Israel has been engaged in a prolonged, unprecedented and multi-front campaign for our existence and our homeland,” the military chief was quoted as saying.
Zamir stressed that over the course of the war, Israel’s security forces “have removed real existential threats that had been built up against us for years. We have proven that the IDF’s long arm is powerful, determined and capable of reaching anywhere to strike those who seek to harm us.”
He went on to say that the military must be expanded with the necessary manpower and equipped with advanced capabilities to meet its evolving missions, while at the same time, the state’s “highest obligation” is to care for those who serve in the IDF.
These include mandatory service personnel, career service personnel, reservists and IDF employees, “who are the foundation of our strength and the secret to our power,” Zamir said.
“This is a generation of courageous and fearless troops whose achievements will be recorded in the annals of Jewish history,” he continued.
Upon receiving an award of appreciation, the military chief stated, “I stand here solely as the commander of hundreds of thousands of troops and officers—both in mandatory service and the reserves—who carry the security of the state on their shoulders every day, hour by hour.”
This award “belongs to the reservists who left behind their homes, families and careers and reported for duty out of a profound sense of mission; it belongs to the families who provide them with unwavering support, and to the fallen and wounded who have paid the highest price. I am merely the representative of an entire military that operates with dedication, determination and humility, and I accept this recognition in their name and because of them.”
Heightened demand for ultra-Orthodox men’s enlistment
In April, the Israeli Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, ordered the government to take a series of measures against ultra-Orthodox draft evaders, in response to petitions accusing the state of contempt of court for failing to enforce conscription laws.
In an unusual move, the five-judge panel led by Supreme Court Deputy President Noam Sohlberg set out a series of measures government bodies must adopt following the coalition’s failure to regulate the haredi draft exemption through legislation, Channel 12 News reported at the time.
The previous month, Israel’s coalition government passed the 2026 state budget without the highly debated draft exemption law, which was temporarily shelved.
The enlistment bill that was under consideration reflects Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempt to forge a compromise with his haredi political partners.
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox sector generally considers national service a distraction from Torah study and a threat to their way of life. However, Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, onslaught on Israel and the ensuing war have heightened demands by the general public that haredim contribute to the nation’s defense.
Between 63,000 and 66,000 young haredi men studying in yeshivahs are legally required to serve. Since the Hamas terrorist invasion in southern Israel, more than 1,000 haredim have voluntarily enlisted, and a similar number have volunteered for civilian national service.
