The price of the Gaza war: How much will Israelis pay for more soldiers?

• Published date: 20 March 2024
• Author: EVE YOUNG
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The IDF revealed in February a plan for increasing IDF manpower due to new needs created by the Gaza War

The ministry's report considered several alternatives for increasing manpower in the IDF including extending the regular mandatory service for soldiers, increasing manpower for those soldiers in regular service who are past their mandatory term, or increasing the amount of reserve service.

Different types of economic damage will occur from the increased manpower needs, according to the report. Extending regular service will delay young people's entry into academia and the workforce while extending reserve duty will harm the seniority in the workforce of those doing reserves, said the report.

Economic cost between men and women

The economic cost of drafting male soldiers for reserve duty is NIS 48,000 per person per month, and NIS 27,000 per person per month for male soldiers in regular service, according to the report.

The economic cost caused by the extended service for women is NIS 32,000 per person per month for women in reserves, and NIS 21,000 per person per month for women in regular service, according to the report.

The report also broke down the cost of reserves by age range, finding that for men, the highest cost is...