Knesset panel again extends emergency reservist call-up order until January 1

The Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee votes 8-7 to pass an extension of an emergency military call-up order until January 1, 2026. Under the order, up to 280,000 soldiers can be called up for reserve duty during this period.

According to the Knesset spokesperson’s unit, the extension was requested by Defense Minister Israel Katz, who is “convinced that the security of the state requires the continued service of reservists.”

The authorization of the IDF to draft reservists with emergency call-up orders has been brought for government approval every few months since the beginning of the war in October 2023.

In non-emergency times, the IDF can only call up reservists a long time in advance rather than at short notice, and cannot call them up for an extended period.

The number does not constitute the actual number of reservists that the IDF is calling up. The record total for that remains at 287,000 – the number of reservists who were called up immediately in the wake of the October 7, 2023, onslaught.

The repeated extensions of the military call-up have long drawn criticism from opposition members, who accuse the government of overburdening exhausted reservists while simultaneously seeking to legislate draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men.