Growing number of IDF reservists refusing to report for duty

IDF reportedly experiencing a 30% drop in the percentage of IDF reservists reporting for duty after call-ups as Israel gears up for renewed fighting in Gaza.

By World Israel News Staff

The percentage of IDF reservists showing up for duty has fallen dramatically, according to a report Thursday, amid a resurging anti-Netanyahu protest movement and as Israel resumes wide-scale hostilities against the Hamas terror organization in the Gaza Strip.

On Wednesday, Israeli tanks entered the Netzarim Corridor, the strategically critical area dividing northern and southern Gaza, as Israel Air Force airstrikes against Hamas positions in the Gaza Strip continued.

Ahead of an impending large-scale ground operation, the IDF has been issuing mobilization orders to thousands of reservists.

However, in contrast to the original Gaza offensive – launched after October 7, 2023, and continuing until the January 19, 2025 ceasefire – a large number of reservists ordered to mobilize are now refusing to show up for duty.

Citing multiple army officers, Yedioth Aharanoth reported Thursday morning that the mobilization rate of reservists who received call up orders is down 30%.

“With a full roster, I need 15 officers to allow for normal rotation,” said Lt. Col. T., who spoke with Yedioth Aharanoth on condition of anonymity. “Right now, two weeks before deployment, I barely have five. If I can’t get another five, it’s a major problem.”

“We have entire companies off the roster because they lack both a company commander and deputy — there are only two platoon leaders left,” he said. “If I can’t bring in more people, I’ll go with fewer. My concern is that those who do come will be overworked, and after a while they’ll say they can’t go on and leave. This is a serious problem that people need to address.”

Lt. Col. T. said the decline marks a “significant change” since the early stages of the war. “It’s not what it was a year ago.”

Some officers cited in the report blamed lengthy deployments prior to the January 19 ceasefire, creating “real distress” for reservists.

At the same time, a small number of high-profile cases of reservist officers refusing to show up for service in protest have been reported.

On Tuesday, Israel Air Force reservist navigator Alon Gur was permanently dismissed from the IDF after he took to social media to announce his refusal to be mobilized for fighting in Gaza.

“A line was crossed: at the point where the state again abandons its citizens in broad daylight; in which the cynical and cold political considerations exceed every other consideration; where human life has lost its value; where a government assassinates its own gatekeepers in every way possible; where the king becomes more important than the kingdom – no more,” he wrote.

A day later, a second reservist officer was dismissed from the IDF after making a similar declaration via social media, pledging not to respond to call-up orders.

Michael Majer, who works in the IDF’s military intelligence directorate, accused the Israeli government of treachery and argued that refusing to serve would protect Israel more than responding to his mobilization call.

“The thing that will help the most right now to protect my people is to refuse to take part in fighting in the service of filthy traitors in complete contrast to the interests of the people of Israel,” Majer wrote on X.

The resumption of the war in Gaza, beginning with a large-scale air campaign on Tuesday, was met with renewed anti-government protests, including a rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday that drew thousands of demonstrators.

Opposition Leader Yair Lapid joined the protest on Wednesday after decrying the Netanyahu government as “illegitimate.”