Gantz: Facing tough times, the IDF will adjust

Chief of staff says army needs to help shoulder the economic burden, adds that extra ultra-Orthodox recruits will be welcomed

The army is facing tough times, and will need to make adjustments in both its use of manpower and budget planning, IDF Chief of General Staff Benny Gantz said Tuesday.

Speaking to soldiers near Eilat a day after announcing that all reserve operations would be canceled this year and training cut back because of budget cuts, Gantz said Israel’s economic woes would force the IDF “to make the [right] adjustments.

“These next few years won’t be easy,” Gantz told dozens of soldiers in their final stages of officer training.

He also addressed the coming draft of thousands of ultra-Orthodox, saying the army would welcome anybody who wants to serve.

Gantz told the soldiers that the army would have to take a second look at several projects in the light of the budget cuts, in a bid to become more streamlined and cost-efficient.

“We’ll go back and revise our [long-term] projects,” he said.

Gantz said the decision to limit the use of reserve soldiers, while also cutting back on training for those serving their mandatory time, was an immediate change that would be felt in the army. However, he stressed, “we’ll make every effort to maintain training for the reserve units, especially those units [designated for] the front lines, in the face of the different scenarios we face.

“We’ll take upon ourselves as much effort as possible to help in these times,” Israel’s top general stated. “We’re not a separate part of Israeli society. We are Israeli society, and what’s hard for society is hard for us too.” As such, he added, the army “would shoulder the stretcher and help carry the burden.”

Regarding the option of drafting ultra-Orthodox soldiers en masse, Gantz said the army would act “according to any decision made by the government,” and accept “any Israeli citizen who comes to serve and to take part in the effort.”

Gantz said the IDF wasn’t trying to impose religious or secular ideas upon any recruit, but rather wished to allow everyone to serve alongside each other, “side by side.”

“The ultra-Orthodox [soldier] will remain ultra-Orthodox. The secular [soldier] will remain secular if he wants. Everyone will live according to their worldview but donate what they can to the IDF, side by side, combined, men and women alike,” Gantz stated. “I think there is room for us all.”

Mitch Ginsburg contributed to this report.