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Wednesday, July 29, 2026
Zamir tells Haredi commanders IDF must ‘grow, expand, and become stronger’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleEmanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
During a visit to commanders of the Hasmonean Brigade for ultra-Orthodox troops on the Lebanon border, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir says the military must expand its ranks.
“One of the lessons we learned from October 7 is that the IDF must grow, expand, and become stronger. We must increase our ground combat forces and build more battalions and brigades that know how to fight, defeat the enemy, and defend the State of Israel,” he says, according to remarks published by the army.
Zamir tells the Haredi commanders that the military’s goal is to “enable you to serve in the IDF while preserving your way of life.”
“Your integration into the IDF is vital to the security of the State of Israel and to the entire people of Israel,” he says.
Zamir notes that the IDF has seen “an increase in the enlistment of Haredim into the IDF, in both combat units and combat support units.”
In the past year, at least 4,000 ultra-Orthodox soldiers have been drafted to the IDF, according to the military’s data, an increase of some 1,200 troops compared to the previous annual period.
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