‘We need more troops immediately’: Israeli military chief warns amid multi-front war

Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir made the remarks during a closed-door session of a Knesset (Israeli parliament) committee on Sunday.

"I am not dealing with political or legislative processes — I am dealing with multi-front warfare," Zamir told lawmakers after appearing before the committee.

"In order to continue to do that," the Israeli military needs more troops "immediately," he said.

The comments came as the regime is almost fresh from its latest bout of unprovoked aggression against Iran, which has proven considerably demanding on its resources. Additionally, it launches daily aggression towards Lebanon in violation of a ceasefire and does not hesitate to wage sporadic attacks on regional nations such as Iraq and Syria under various pretexts.

Three legislative proposals

According to reports, Zamir urged lawmakers to advance legislation in three areas to address the manpower shortage.

The first proposal calls for extending mandatory conscription for men to 36 months. Conscription had been reduced from 32 months to 30 months in August 2024.

The current limits on the issue "will cause an unreasonable burden on the reserves," Zamir said.

He, meanwhile, claimed, "There are urgent security needs" as the Islamic Republic and regional resistance groups have sternly warned the regime about the scope of their response to its fresh potential transgression.

Reports noted that the first group enlisted under the shortened service period is due to be discharged in January 2027, a move expected to worsen existing personnel shortages unless the law was amended.

Zamir also reportedly called for changes to the regime’s reserve duty law to allow the army to mobilize reservists for longer periods based on operational requirements.

The third legislative proposal focused on increasing overall military enlistment, with particular emphasis on recruiting ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, men, who refuse to join the military, claiming that their so-called religious involvement is as "valuable."

Earlier warning

This is not the first such warning by Zamir. In March, he told the regime’s so-called security cabinet that the military "is going to collapse in on itself” without additional recruits.

“Right now," he said at the time, the military "needs a conscription law, a reserve duty law, and a law to extend mandatory service.” “Before long," the military "will not be prepared for its routine missions and the reserve system will not last."