IDF nixes extra deployment time for enlisted troops, but will keep special forces soldiers for longer

The IDF says it is canceling a practice of adding four extra months of service for conscripted troops, but will extend deployment time for special forces units in the future, as the military looks to rebalance service terms to address a manpower crisis during the conflict in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the war, the IDF has delayed the release of conscripted ground troops and seamlessly transitioned their service into reserve duty for four additional months.

Starting in November, the IDF says it will cancel those extra four months, meaning that soldiers who were drafted in March 2023 will be released in November rather than March 2026.

However, soldiers in the special forces units who are currently in training will be required to serve an additional four months as “career soldiers,” starting in March 2027.

Additionally, troops who draft to special forces units in the future will be required to sign on for an additional eight months (in reconnaissance units) or a full year of service (in the commando units) as career soldiers.

Last month, the military said it was set to extend the service time for troops in selective units — including special forces, commando units, and the infantry brigades’ reconnaissance units — by a year, beyond the 30 months they currently serve, per a commitment that those soldiers had made upon enlisting. The policy in practice had not been enforced, and after outcry, the military backtracked from the move. Instead, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir appointed a committee headed by Maj. Gen. (res.) Amir Abulafia, a former head of the Planning Directorate, who today presented a series of recommendations concerning service times.

Soldiers in the selective units who have completed their basic training, which normally takes a year or more, will also not have four months tacked on.

The IDF says the moves are intended to find a balance between the needs of the military for more troops and the “erosion” in the standing army after nearly two years of fighting. Therefore, the military says it does not intend to extend the service of those already in the army, but only for those in training or who have not yet been drafted.

The cost in the short term is one less team in the commando units and dozens of troops in the infantry brigades for a year. The military says it will make up the gap by bringing in reservists.