To hear statements from those close to us such as “Come on, you’ve given enough—now let others fight,” or “Why don’t the Haredim serve?”, does not help and is not relevant to the immediate challenges.

Around the latest Iranian attack, we are once again hearing remarks of the kind that call on people not to report for reserve duty. These are not necessarily people encouraging draft evasion, but rather good and caring individuals, family members and friends, who are convinced they are protecting their loved ones. Out of love and concern, they try to persuade them not to show up for reserve duty, confident that skipping once will not significantly affect the army’s readiness.

But in practice, this message erodes. It weakens rather than strengthens, and it adds pressure precisely where the burden is already stretched to the limit.

In 2025, more than 300,000 reserve combat soldiers served, including more than 50,000 who returned from exemption. In 2026, at any given moment about 40,000 soldiers will be on duty. If the burden were distributed equally, that would mean about 60 days of reserve service per reservist.

Without another major escalation, about a quarter of a million reservists would have served, after cutting roughly 20,000 who were not expected to be called up. In light of Operation “Roar of the Lion,” the numbers will grow, reserve days will increase, and the burden we thought might ease will only intensify. There is a shortage of soldiers, especially combat soldiers, to carry out the missions in a way that maintains the best possible balance between defense expenditures and, of course, accomplishing the mission in light of its objectives.

It is true that for some people reserve duty costs less than for others. Some find it relatively convenient because their work allows it, and there are even a few who have managed to benefit financially from reserve service. But these are the exceptions.

In every commanders’ briefing before an operational deployment, manpower is a central issue. Commanders emphasize the insistence on soldiers showing up because of the heavy workload. That determines whether during deployment soldiers will do four hours of patrol and eight hours of rest, or four hours on and four hours off, with no time to study or work, or whether it will be possible to maintain some routine, go home occasionally to recharge, and preserve some semblance of a “war-life balance”.

There is a hierarchy of threats. Sometimes it is possible to defend the country with the minimum number of fortified positions, and sometimes more is required depending on the level of alert, even when there is no major confrontation. The problem is that the level of alert is not coordinated in advance with a timetable that says tomorrow we need twenty more soldiers. Sometimes it is enough for one soldier who was supposed to man a position to suddenly fall ill, or to face an urgent family emergency and be unable to arrive, and suddenly even the minimum required threshold cannot be met. This is the gray zone between routine and war, and it is the most challenging one. On October 7 everyone jumped in. And during “Raising Lion,” despite the exhaustion, people reported at record speed. The same is happening in the current operation.

There are plenty of things already challenging reservists: the financial losses, studies that are delayed, careers that stand still while everyone else moves forward, physical and mental strain, and of course the unimaginable price their families pay. I understand the price. believe me. I left the base on the fourth day of the war to get married. I left my wife, a new immigrant to Israel, completely alone the next day. We became parents while I was on operational deployment along the Netzarim corridor, and the upcoming birth will again take place while I am mobilized, this time in Syria. My story is not particularly unique; there are many like me. I meet them in the reserves: the intelligence officer whose twins were just born, the soldier whose business is collapsing, the platoon commander who has lost two years of his studies, the sergeant who needs to care for his sick parents, and the fighter who is long past the age of exemption whose children barely speak to him because every time he receives a call-up order he leaves again. The price is clear to everyone. The alternative, choosing not to show up for reserve duty, however justified the reasons may be, is that there will simply be no army.

To hear from those close to us statements such as “Come on, you’ve given enough, now let others fight,” or “Why don’t the Haredim serve?”, or anything else in that spirit, does not help and is not relevant to the immediate challenges. There are only two things one can do if one truly wants to help: join in defending the homeland, or help as much as possible those who are defending it. And in any case, instead of saying that perhaps it is time to stop going to reserve duty, it would be better simply to say: “Take care of yourselves and of us.”

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)