Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has instructed to call back to service in the IDF those reservists who were exempted from service and are still within the age range required for service. The exemptions were a result of the Ehud Barak's erroneous policy claiming Israel needs a "small, smart army," which resulted in disbanding entire IDF divisions, reducing the artillery forces by 50% and shutting armored brigades.
The decision came in light of a recent situation assessment and the scope of activity of the regular and reserve forces, and as part of a process the IDF is planning to carry out to expand the pool of servicemen. The IDF started, following Gallant's instruction, to approach relevant candidates who served in critical roles.
Those found suitable for return from exemption will be assigned to different units according to operational needs, the IDF said.
It is believed that there are 15,000 citizens who served in combat roles and were exempt from reserve service and are under the age of 35. The IDF will call them back in three batches of 5,000 each.
In April, Arutz Sheva - Israel National News learned that over 170,000 citizens who served in the IDF in the last decade were released from reserves, of which 40,000 served in combat roles.
The exemption was given due to the policy of reducing IDF manpower, and all of them up to the age of 45 can still serve as active reservists today.
It was also learned that the IDF did not summon 20,000 soldiers for reserves during that period, among other things because their reserve brigade was disbanded.
In a discussion held in the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in February, the IDF said that they did not know why many were released from reserve service before 2020.