The manpower crisis in the IDF has reached an unprecedented low. The data we are revealing today indicates that the permanent personnel, mainly in the ranks of captain and major, are flocking to citizenship, where the pay is more rewarding, the work is less intense and no one calls them "robbers of the public purse". If until now the IDF reported that the main problem was in the technological formations, now it turns out that about a quarter of the officers who leave on their own initiative are from the combat formation.
For a long time, the IDF tried to claim that despite the situation, "the ranks are still full". However, those who have lived in the army know that there are quite a few positions that are not filled at the moment (not in the fighting formation), and some of the positions are not filled by the best and highest quality officers.
As in any large labor organization, considerations such as adequate compensation, interest and significance, and employment alternatives affect the permanent army servants.
However, unlike other organizations, the permanent staff are "servants" and not employees.
They don't have a labor organization, and they can't strike.
On the other hand, they have a huge responsibility, work around the clock and little time with the family.
The pensions and salaries of the permanent officers are presented as inflated.
Ministry of Finance, photo: Oren Nachshon
Due to briefings by Ministry of Finance officials, in recent years the permanent staff have been unfairly portrayed in the media as "free food" and "robbers of the public purse".
Many of them are ashamed to walk around the street in uniform.
On top of that, the current permanent model causes job insecurity among the servants.
Without promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel until the age of 35, the army is obliged not to extend their service, this after they have devoted their best years without acquiring a profession for citizenship.
Despite the transition to a cumulative pension model in the early 2000s, every year the Treasury presents the pensions and salaries of permanent officers as inflated.
Unlike the salaries of the other security organizations, the treasury divides the salary of the permanent personnel into different columns and presents the relatively high salary of the senior officers in a column separate from that of the junior officers.
This creates a false representation of the high salary of the permanent staff.
In reality, 64 percent of those serving in the army earn less than NIS 12,000 gross.
The young officers settle for an embarrassing minimum wage.
The departure of the officers requires the IDF and the Treasury to quickly find a new compensation model, in a way that will dramatically increase the wages of the young permanent personnel and improve their job security, even if this means a certain damage to pensions. Once the solution is found, Treasury Ministry officials must commit to ending the campaign against The "fat pensions" of the permanent staff, since the briefings harm Israel's security.
True, at this time there is no immediate existential threat hovering over Israel.
But there is no arguing that in a place like the Middle East everything can change in an instant.
Israel should ask itself who it wants as battalion commanders and squadron commanders in the next war, and if the intelligence officer on permanent duty will be of sufficient quality to bring the information that will prevent a surprise like in 1973, exactly 50 years ago.
Although the manpower situation is very worrying, thanks to the mandatory conscription law it is still possible to correct the situation: change the compensation model for the servants and stop the briefings against them.
were we wrong
We will fix it!
If you found an error in the article, we would appreciate it if you shared it with us
