IDF: The IDF to the Reserve Soldiers in the North: “The IDF needs to be larger”

IDF: The IDF to the Reserve Soldiers in the North: “The IDF needs to be larger”

Today (Wednesday) the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Herzi Halevi, conducted a field tour and situational assessment in the Western Galilee sector with the Commanding Officer of the Northern Command, MG Ori Gordin, and the Commander of the 146th Division, BG Yeftah Norkin. Additionally, he held discussions with the brigade and battalion commanders in the reserves operating under the division in the limited, localized, targeted ground raid based on precise intelligence in Lebanon and in defense.

The following are the full remarks of the Chief of the General Staff: "To all the reservists, I understand the costs—family, employment, the strain here. Now we need solutions. First, we will maintain support; for those who come, we, as the formal system, need to provide solutions, recognition, and compensation, whether for students or those whose businesses are severely impacted. That’s what we’re building. We’re engaging older reservists and establishing additional frameworks to handle operational roles, significantly reducing the strain. We’re actively working on this every day. The IDF needs to be larger, both in regular forces and reserves, and therefore we’re building more forces.
Now, I want to tell you something; there’s considerable public discourse about the Haredim as well. On Monday, I visited wounded soldiers during Wounded Soldiers’ Appreciation Week at Soroka Hospital. I met a soldier from the Givati Brigade, injured in Rafah, who took a bullet in the upper thigh—a tough injury, but he’ll be okay. He’s Haredi, from Bnei Brak. He wanted to enlist, though his family initially didn’t support him; from the moment he began, they embraced him wholeheartedly, standing by him before and certainly after his injury. And I’m telling you, our question is how we create many more like him. That’s what’s socially right, and I believe if we can grow from this war with the understanding that the IDF needs to be larger, there might be a very positive social transformation as well."