Texting (illustration)
Texting (illustration)Thinkstock

The IDF notified an entire reserve battalion of its closure through text messages, reservists stated to the Israeli press Friday - and it is not the first time the military strayed from orderly and official procedures in closing a battalion. 

A special reserve battalion consisting of Artillery Corps soldiers who served during the Second Lebanon War has been closed due to budget cuts, the IDF said, and redirected hundreds of reservists from the unit into other regiments. 

Soldiers are livid that the IDF informed them of the closing ceremony via text message - not via any official statement - and that many received their new orders just weeks before being due to serve. 

"When we opened the document [attached in the message], we found a letter about a regiment commander - but it was definitely not our regiment commander, nor anything to do with our regiment," one soldier fumed to Walla! News. "Our WhatsApp group was in an uproar trying to figure out what the story was." 

Eventually, the soldiers called their battalion commander to clarify. 

"He was surprised to hear about it and said it was a serious blunder," the soldier said. "According to him, the officers in the battalion were warned about this several times, and that rounds of talks had been scheduled to notify all of the reservists about their new assignments." 

The IDF responded that the move to close the battalion, as well as several others closed under similar circumstances, was part of the multi-year Gidon plan

"The closing process is an orderly process, done with dignity and respect, which ended with a military ceremony," they insisted. "About the case in question, the arguments will be checked and treated individually. The IDF regrets causing distress to any soldier."