Amid personnel shortages, IDF planning to draft soldiers with lower medical scores to combat service

In an attempt to deal with its personnel shortages, the IDF is planning to draft soldiers with lower medical profiles to combat service, the Ynet news site reports.

The military has said that it currently requires some 12,000 new soldiers — 75 percent of whom will be combat troops — for current and future challenges.

When soldiers are recruited they are given a medical profile that determines where they can serve.

A profile of 97 means the soldier is perfectly healthy and fit for combat service; 82 indicates they have a slight health problem that prevents them from serving in elite units; 72 means they have a moderate health problem preventing them from serving in infantry units but are eligible for other combat units, such as the Armored Corps, Artillery Corps, light infantry brigades, and aerial defense array; and a profile of 64 indicates they have a more serious health problem that makes them unfit for combat roles, aside from the Military Police’s Erez Battalion which operate some West Bank checkpoints.

According to the Ynet report, the IDF plans to draft those with a profile of 64 to the Armored Corps and the Border Defense Corps’ light infantry battalions.

Other efforts are being made to handle the personnel shortages, including opening new units for ultra-Orthodox men — who mainly don’t serve — as well as encouraging more women to serve in combat roles.