(JNS) Israel has abandoned a security approach based on absorbing or containing threats (sometimes referred to as the “conceptzia”) and is now focused on eliminating dangers before they become attacks, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said Thursday.
Speaking at an event honoring soldiers and security personnel, Zamir said the military had reassessed its assumptions after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre in the northwestern Negev.
Israel has spent more than 1,000 days fighting across several fronts, he said, describing the campaign as an exceptional struggle for the country’s survival. During that period, he said, the security forces had dismantled serious threats that adversaries had built over many years.
Zamir said the IDF was still learning from combat and translating those lessons into operational planning. He added that Israel must enlarge the military’s manpower base and provide it with modern capabilities suited to its expanding missions.
The chief of staff also emphasized the state’s responsibility to those carrying the burden of service, including career soldiers, conscripts, reservists and civilian IDF employees. He praised reservists who have left families and careers to report for duty, as well as the families, wounded personnel and bereaved relatives affected by the war.
His remarks came amid continuing public pressure to broaden participation in national service, including among ultra-Orthodox men. The High Court of Justice in April directed the government to take enforcement steps against haredi draft evaders after lawmakers failed to enact a replacement framework for the community’s long-standing exemption arrangement.
Tens of thousands of yeshiva students are legally subject to enlistment. More than 1,000 haredi men have volunteered for IDF service since Oct. 7, alongside a comparable number who entered civilian national service.
Want more news from Israel?
Click Here to sign up for our FREE daily email updates
