Overview

• Army Radio and IDF Manpower Division figures put the current shortfall at roughly 10,000 to 12,000 soldiers, though a July Maariv report cited about 7,500.
• Officials are considering outreach to 18–25-year-old Jews in major communities in the United States and France to immigrate and serve for several years.
• The army set an initial goal of bringing in roughly 600 to 700 recruits each year from abroad, with internal estimates pointing to more than 10,000 potential candidates annually.
• The initiative remains in preliminary testing and formulation, with the IDF presenting it as one of several responses to persistent recruitment gaps.
• The Tzohar Rabbinical Organization welcomed diaspora volunteering but insisted it must not substitute for Israeli citizens’ service obligations.