A survey conducted by the IDF Manpower Directorate in May and obtained by Ynet and "Yedioth Ahronoth," showed a significant drop in the desire of career officers to remain in service. Only 42% responded positively when asked whether they want to continue serving in the military, compared to 49% in August 2023.
Such a decline within nine months, during a war that has been ongoing for nearly eight months, stunned senior IDF officials. They believed that public support and a sense of mission would at least maintain the previous numbers, with trends only developing after the war ended.
In addition, the decline in motivation is supported by another factor noted by the Manpower Directorate: the increase in the number of officers contacting the IDF retirement department during the war.
Additionally, in the same survey, officers were asked if they were satisfied with their salary levels. Only 30% responded positively. In the private sector, 60% responded positively to the same question. The gap shows anger and frustration among the service members.
It's clear what causes these officers to reconsider their paths, and the survey confirms this: the long war is exhausting, family life is affected for both men and women who don’t see their spouses and children, and the compensation is inadequate given the long working hours alongside the stress and responsibility involved in some roles.
According to a senior officer familiar with the data, there’s another reason for the lowering of motivation not reflected in the survey. "Career officers feel responsible for the severe consequences of the war," he says.
"The sense of failure haunts the officers, and they don’t want to serve in a failed organization." However, senior IDF officials believe the crisis is also an unprecedented opportunity to turn things around and create better conditions to attract quality personnel to the military.
The survey, however, also presented positive data. Motivation among non-commissioned officers (NCOs), career personnel without officer rank, has increased from 56% before the war to 66% presently.
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Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamina Netanyahu
(Photo: Haim Tzach, GPO)
A senior officer in the Manpower Directorate says the reason for this is that NCOs feel they’re receiving the recognition they deserve due to their professional performance. "They’re experienced, professional, and provided a sense of security in units during the toughest times," the officer explained.
The IDF and Defense Ministry have consistently warned the prime minister and Finance Ministry on this issue, presenting increasing amounts of data on the "Major's crisis," referring to the number of officers at the rank of Major who requested to leave the military. In 2018, this number stood at 289, and by 2022 it shot up to 613, more than double.
The IDF General Staff was concerned by this, and the Manpower Directorate prepared plans to try and combat the issue, however Finance Ministry officials time and again depicted the IDF career system as a greedy mechanism and ran campaigns against it. The military was forced to succumb to budget cuts, and instead of stemming the tide, it only intensified.