IDF extends time reservists must serve this year, amid Iran and Hezbollah wars

Reservists to be called up for nine weeks, instead of six weeks in 2026, as military faces mounting manpower shortage

The Israel Defense Forces is extending the time reservists will serve this year, according to an updated military chart, amid the war in Iran and against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

As part of the changes, reservists will now be called up for nine weeks of operational activity this year. Previously, reservists were expected to be called up for six weeks in 2026.

The IDF stated that an updated version of its “combat chart” was distributed to all units following a recent assessment.

The changes apply to reservists who are scheduled to be called up to replace those who have been serving amid the war in Iran or before it. However, those currently on reserve duty will also have their time extended, the military said.

The IDF has said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits — mostly combat troops — due to the strain on standing and reserve forces caused by the IDF’s recent conflicts.

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has several times urged the government to again extend mandatory military service for men to 36 months, after it was shortened to 30 months in August 2024.

In January 2027, the first cohort enlisted under this shorter service will be relieved, further exacerbating manpower issues, unless the existing law is changed.

Zamir warned again on Wednesday that the “heavy price” of the change will be paid by reservists and their families. “They are the ones who will be called to service time after time.”

Zamir said he requested that three laws “that affect the readiness of the IDF and its reserve system be advanced.”

Those include a law extending the mandatory service time; a law changing how reservists are called up and for how long, given that currently the IDF relies on emergency call-up orders with various limitations; and “a relevant conscription law that will be adapted to the needs of the IDF at the present time.”

The current government has been working to pass a bill that would enshrine blanket exemptions from military conscription for Haredi yeshiva students, despite the IDF warning repeatedly that it needs more troops after two years of war.

The bill has come under fire from IDF brass, the attorney general, and a wide array of other critics, who have objected to it on the grounds that it is full of loopholes, preserves inequality in the mandatory draft, and will not increase Haredi enlistment amid what the military says is a manpower shortage.

A senior military officer told lawmakers in December that the bill falls short of solving the IDF’s manpower shortage.

Some 80,000 ultra-Orthodox men aged between 18 and 24 are currently believed to be eligible for military service, but have not enlisted.

“In summary, in light of the expansion of missions in the coming years and the motivation of the IDF to realize them all with excellence, the IDF is required to grow,” Zamir wrote. He added, “As we have expressed more than once, we need a large and strong army.”