IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir made the dramatic move of canceling all leaves for IDF soldiers, about a week after the IDF's investigations into the October 7 massacre were published.
According to the IDF's findings, Hamas took advantage of the reduced staffing at military bases as many soldiers were home for the Simchat Torah holiday on the day of the massacre.
Ynet correspondent Yossi Yehoshua reported that Zamir announced during a meeting with the senior command staff, "There are no more leaves in the IDF, the army will be on alert all year round."
According to the report, Zamir emphasized that conscripts and career officers will still be entitled to have regular breaks, but there will be no time in which significant portions of the military are on leave.
In this way, Zamir is canceling the long-standing procedures for leaves, which involves concentrated unit vacations during which some bases remain with reduced personnel and certain wings are temporarily closed.
Last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Zamir, in their first working meeting, discussed the IDF's preparations to return to combat in the Gaza Strip if the negotiations with Hamas do not proceed in the coming days.
Last Thursday, Zamir approved plans to renew the fighting during a visit to the Southern Command. He instructed the commanding officer, Yaron Finkleman, to make changes to the plan so that the next ground maneuver would be more effective.