War caused extensive marital, financial strain among reservists’ families, MKs told

One third of IDF reservists’ wives have considered getting divorced or separating since the beginning of the Gaza war in October 2023, lawmakers on the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality were told during a Tuesday meeting.

Figures provided by the Central Bureau of Statistics detail a range of harmful effects of the prolonged military reserve service on partners left at home for prolonged periods.

Five percent of reservists’ spouses who are employed and 73% of those who are self-employed reported suffering economic harm. Among those who were self-employed before October 7, 12% are now salaried employees while 8% are out of work.

In addition,  58 percent of divorced women and 48% of single mothers who share children with a reservist reported experiencing financial hardship.

“The war may have ended in its current form, but its consequences are far from over. The harm to the wives and families of reservists, as reflected in the Central Bureau of Statistics survey, indicates a broad and deep crisis that requires systemic, focused and long-term treatment,” said committee chair Meirav Cohen (Yesh Atid).

“This is an unfortunate — but unfortunately not surprising — result of a reality in which approximately 300,000 reservist servicemen and women have been drafted for extended periods since the beginning of the war, some… for hundreds of days,” she said.

“The CBS survey data shows that approximately half of the women reported harm to their marital relationship, and a third stated that the harm even led to thoughts of separation or divorce,” she added. “In addition, a significant proportion of the women reported a negative change in the mental state of their children, or that they themselves sought psychological help.”

While an official at the Negev, Galilee and National Resilience Ministry told lawmakers that funding has been allocated to appoint designated coordinators to deal with compensation issues at 90 local authorities, an official from the Finance Ministry said that “there is no budgetary source from the Treasury for the government’s decision” and that “the government’s decision does not specify an additional budget.”

At the committee meeting, multiple women testified that they felt the government’s assistance has been insufficient.

Reservists have repeatedly complained about the personal and financial burden of their extended service since October 7, describing failing marriages, destroyed businesses and other hardships. IDF veterans have also argued that the government has not done enough to tackle rising suicide rates among those with post-traumatic stress disorder. The Defense Ministry has acknowledged that not enough resources have been made available to deal with the issue.

The government has approved several tranches of aid for reservists, the wounded and other troops since the beginning of the war. Last month, lawmakers passed legislation doubling the funding for organizations working with disabled soldiers.

The IDF called up some 300,000 reservists during the war, with a peak of 287,000 immediately after the October 7 onslaught. During the war, reservist combat soldiers served on average 136 days in reserve duty and commanders served 168 days, according to the IDF.

Since the war began, 915 IDF soldiers have been killed across the various arenas of conflict. That toll includes both reservist and conscripted soldiers.

In addition, some 20,000 wounded soldiers have been treated since the beginning of the war, more than half of whom are suffering from mental health conditions, according to Defense Ministry figures released in September. Among the 20,000 wounded soldiers, around 64% are reservists.

Emanuel Fabian contributed to this report.