Report: Hundreds of Officers Retire from Israeli Army

“About 500 majors have already retired this year,” Israel Hayom said. 

The Israeli army is “surprised by the scope of the phenomenon, and admits that they estimated that the wave of departures would expand when the fighting subsides, and not in the midst of the war,” the daily added.

The report confirms that Israel started its war on Gaza last year with a “particularly acute manpower crisis”.

In 2022, a record number of over 600 Israeli majors retired from service. While the pace of departures slowed down at the start of 2023, as the war erupted in October of that year, the “trend is now worsening” once again, and the “outlook for 2025 is not encouraging”. 

One of the reasons is “the unbearable burden placed on [soldiers] by the war”. Many are tired of leaving their houses and families and putting themselves at risk for a “not so rewarding” salary. 

“The army is interested in increasing the number in order to establish more combat units, more defense battalions, more air defense units, and so on. At the moment, it is not clear how the army will manage to do this,” according to Israel Hayom.

Not only majors and captains are hesitant to continue service, but unit commanders are, as well.

The ground battles in Gaza and Lebanon have taken a toll on Israeli forces. A few weeks before the war and ground operations in South Lebanon ended, Yedioth Ahronoth reported that Israel was facing a “huge” shortage of soldiers due to a serious enlistment crisis.

The newspaper said at the time that 7,000 recruits were urgently needed.

The atrocities and war crimes being committed against innocent Palestinians as part of the genocide that Israel has been waging in Gaza for over a year have also taken a psychological toll on some soldiers.

Earlier this year, dozens of Israeli reservists signed a protest letter saying they would not obey a government-issued call to Gaza, citing the atrocities being committed there.

An Israeli commander told Haaretz newspaper on December 18 that soldiers stationed on the Netzarim corridor in Gaza, which splits the strip into two, are under strict orders to “shoot anyone” they spot approaching the “killing area”. 

“The killing area is the sniper's target range … We kill civilians there, and they are counted as terrorists,” he added, revealing that a “competition” exists between the different army divisions occupying the East-to-West corridor. “If Division 99 killed 150, then the next in line would try to reach 200,” he added. 

The war has also taken a significant physical toll on top of the psychological aspect. 

“The army estimates that by 2030, the number of disabled soldiers will reach 100,000, with 60 percent expected to suffer from mental disorders,” Israel’s Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) reported on Wednesday.

More and more soldiers are also refusing to serve in the army. Many are depressed, worn out, psychologically damaged, and unmotivated, according to a report by Ha-Makom magazine published on October 20.