Chief of Staff Benny Gantz
Chief of Staff Benny GantzFlash 90

The cuts in the upcoming budget are having an influence on the IDF. On Monday, Chief of Staff Benny Gantz announced that the army would be forced to cut training missions for soldiers because of cuts. The IDF's budget is to be cut by NIS 3 billion.

Training missions for reserve soldiers will be eliminated altogether for the rest of 2013. In addition, several groups of reserve soldiers called for service will have their orders cancelled altogether. Training missions for as many as 70 units will not take place. Priority in training missions will be given to infantry and tank battalions, both in the regular army and reserves, said Gantz.

As part of the the cuts, several units, such as those assigned to homefront command duties, artillery and engineering corps, will see reduced training hours and missions. Training for infantry units will not be eliminated, but the number of training weeks will be reduced. Several joint training maneuvers for IDF units – among them a maneuver for the navy and IDF Central Command – will be eliminated for the rest of 2013 as well.

Some of the social, educational, and recreational activities will be reduced or eliminated as well, Gantz said.

In a statement, the IDF said that it would continue to “extend great efforts to operate in its more modest budgetary capacity.”