Israel: Reports of 2,000 soldiers are absence from service during the ongoing war
Experts described the absence of two thousand Israeli soldiers from their service in the army during the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, without permission, as the largest failure the Israeli army has witnessed since its founding in 1948.
Although the reason for this number’s absence from the war hasn’t yet been announced, what was reported by the Israeli media regarding the repercussions of this reveals concern within the army that the number of those absent will increase in the coming period.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the Israeli army would apply severe penalties to soldiers who are absent without leave during the war in Gaza, and their number is estimated at about two thousand soldiers.
Yedioth Ahronoth added, in a report in this regard last Wednesday, that many reserve soldiers, who weren’t originally part of the regular forces, volunteered on a personal initiative and came forward to participate in the war effort, but some other soldiers are still in their homes, which is a violation of the law amid.
Some of those deserting military service are also compulsory soldiers, and some of them were absent from service before the outbreak of battles on October 7, according to Yedioth Ahronoth, which indicated that the penalty will be actual military detention from one to three days for each day of absence.
Following the outbreak of war between Israel and the Palestinian factions on October 7, the Israeli army called up more than 360,000 reserve forces, representing 3 quarters of these forces estimated at 465,000.
Last July, 1,142 reserve soldiers, including hundreds of pilots, threatened to refrain from performing military service if the government went ahead with passing a law on judicial changes that would reduce the powers of the Supreme Court, and the government has already approved this law.
Air Force veterans say that reservists, who volunteer after completing their mandatory military service, represent about half of the crews of combat missions.
In early November, Israeli Channel 12 and other media reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that there may be a need to verify whether the protests against his government that have been taking place for months, in which reservists threatened to refuse to resume service, were in addition to motives… Hamas to carry out its attack on Israel.
The regular force in the Israeli army is much weaker than entering into a war, which was expected to expand its area with its neighbors, and therefore reliance on reserve forces in such circumstances is very large.
The occurrence of a defect or something resembling mutiny and absence, raises great fears within the army about the expansion of the rebellion.
Therefore, Israel doesn’t allow such behavior, and imposes severe penalties on those who default, especially in times of war, and confronts small rebellions forcefully to maintain the stability of joining the army in such circumstances.
Threats by reservists last July to abstain from service; Protesting against the judicial amendments was worrying, and I believe that what Israel was exposed to on October 7 was caused by the major security failure that struck Israel before that.
