The Finance Ministry is advancing a dramatic change in the payment structure for IDF reservists, with the draft of its proposal expected to be discussed in the government soon, according to a report on Tuesday.
The proposal includes stopping inflated reserve pay, eliminating full payment for standby days, and counting a full reserve day only if it includes at least eight hours of service. The Finance Ministry estimates that these measures could save the state budget hundreds of millions of shekels and reduce reserve service days by 25% to 33%.
This proposal comes against the backdrop of the rising costs of reserve service to the state budget. The Defense and Finance ministries initially estimated the payment for reservists in 2024 to be around 20 billion shekels, but it is now expected to reach approximately 30 billion shekels. The Finance Ministry is pushing this decision partly due to allegations of poor manpower management in various IDF units, where there is reportedly a culture of abusing reserve service resources.
In recent months, Calcalist has highlighted the loss of control over the use of reserve service days in the IDF. Besides the enormous budgetary cost, the increased use of these days is leading to growing fatigue among the reservists. The Finance Ministry drafted the proposal independently, with the Defense Ministry receiving it only in recent days.
While this measure is expected to primarily affect soldiers serving in non-combat roles, it may face political challenges, especially in a reality where reservists in combat units will average around 200 reserve days this year. The Defense Ministry estimates that if Israel does not reach a resolution regarding the situation in Gaza and the north, reservists may need to perform an average of 100 reserve days next year as well.
The proposal's explanatory notes state that "economic challenges require fiscal discipline and the reduction of non-essential activities." The first clause demands that the IDF Chief of Staff "reduce the phenomenon of reservists receiving compensation for days when they are not actually serving." This reduction will be achieved by counting only eight hours of service as a full reserve day, with four hours counted as half a day. Additionally, a standby day will be counted as a quarter of a reserve day, and the number of recovery days granted after service will be limited to a maximum of 10 days.
The proposal also suggests that the IDF chief of staff, or his representative, should provide weekly reports to the Finance Ministry regarding the scope of full reserve service, including a breakdown by unit and the distribution of service duration, as well as the scope of reservists receiving partial compensation. The explanatory notes for this clause state that it is being promoted because "there is a widespread phenomenon of compensation for reserve days even when the reservist is not actually serving. For example, in cases where reservists perform several reserve days in a week but receive compensation for an entire week. In these cases, the reservist receives full wage compensation from the state budget through the employer for days they did not actually serve."
The proposal also seeks to address issues within the National Insurance payment mechanism. In June, Calcalist revealed that reservists in roles that allowed them to work concurrently received inflated reimbursements, reaching up to 49,000 shekels per month, in addition to their regular salary. The proposal aims to change this by modifying the National Insurance reimbursement mechanism so that reserve pay will not be included in the calculation of the reservist's salary, thus preventing "inflation." Additionally, it proposes canceling the option to "carry over" wages, preventing reservists from requesting reimbursement for periods when their monthly salary was higher than their current wage.
Regarding reservists who are also public sector employees, the proposal suggests amending the State Service Regulations so that working during active reserve duty is permitted only in essential cases, with a cap of 40 hours. In "exceptional and special" cases exceeding 40 hours per month, approval would be required from the ministry's director-general and the Civil Service Commissioner. The proposal also suggests allowing work during recovery days granted to reservists after service. The proposed amendments would also apply to employees of government companies and local authorities.