Israel's Reserve Army Is Breaking — And So Are Its Families

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]IDF Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir, told the meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that, "The IDF must grow, and quickly. Recruiting Haredim is an existential need for the IDF, not just a matter of sharing the burden and and equality. The army will fall apart if everyone serves only on their own terms." He went on to say that the reserve system that the IDF depends on for most of its manpower needs in emergencies like the one we're still in is on the verge of collapse because so many men have been mobilized for long stretches of time in this war.

[00:00:38]With all due respect to General Zamir, I would add that it's not just the IDF reserve system that's on the verge of collapse. Many families, businesses, and some might even say Israeli society as a whole is also on the verge of collapse.

[00:00:52]I've talked about this in many different venues over the past few years, but I'll say once more here and now that the rising rates of divorce, domestic violence, delinquent children, household debt, bankrupt businesses, and so on is not happening for no reason. It is because all these husbands, fathers, uncles, older brothers, and so on who are away from their wives, children, siblings, nieces, and nephews, and communities for so long. They are also away from their jobs and businesses, which is less important but is still a great problem, a huge problem.

[00:01:27]Last week we celebrated Mother's Day in the United States, and I don't mean to take anything away from mothers. I don't even want to think about what kind of shape I'd be in if my mother hadn't been there for me when I needed her. But as the late Dr. James Dobson often reminded us, God created families and ordained them to be the foundational building block of societies. For all of its many problems, one of the great strengths of Israeli society is that the nuclear family and the extended family are still highly regarded, respected, and valued institutions. One of the highest compliments in Israeli culture is when you say of someone that they take good care of their family. But, in the last 2 and 1/2 years plus, many men have been called away from their families to serve in the IDF reserves for hundreds of days at a stretch, and that is creating all kinds of problems for society as a whole.