There are growing Israeli military concerns over the reluctance of young people to enlist in field combat units and the increase in the number of those who prefer to join other units especially the air force the border guards and the home front command.
As the summer draft has ended there is a growing concern in the Israeli army over the fact that there has been a decline in the demand from recruits to serve in combat units Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
Data collected about the July draft traditionally the army’s biggest combat recruitment cycle shows a decreasing trend in motivation for combat service compared to the parallel recruitment last year.
Data from July the army’s large combat recruitment cycle shows 67 percent of recruits sought to enlist in combat roles in 2017 compared to 68.8 percent in 2016.
For the army this is the lowest rate in a decade. The last time such low combat recruitment motivation was recorded was immediately after the 2006 second Lebanon war.
The highest motivation rate in the last decade was recorded in 2010 when 80 percent of new recruits joined combat units and the numbers have been consistently dropping since.
According to the army the drop in motivation to serve in combat roles is the result of social changes in Israel; primarily the erosion of the warrior ethos.
At the same time there is also a clear preference emerging among new recruits and particularly their parents to join the technological units such as the military intelligence directorate’s unit 8200 cyber defense units and other units in the computer service directorate. This trend has been gradually increasing over the past five years.
An analysis of recruitment trends shows that more and more soldiers want to have a comfy service closer to home which could also give them an advantage later in life. Serving in technological units can undoubtedly meet those desires.
