2. And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are
too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands,
lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
Judges 7 King James Version (KJV)
Israel - Reserves
Israel's reserve system is based on the assumption that every citizen is a "soldier on eleven months vacation", as one Chief of Staff put it. Israel has hardly any strategic depth; it may - as the Yom Kippur War attested - be subject to a surprise attack. Speed of mobilization is, therefore, an absolute priority: 48 hours, including distribution of equipment and dispatch of the unit to its allocated sector of the front, is considered the outer limit; 24 hours is the norm, but there are units - particularly in the Air Force - where this has been reduced to 12 hours.
There are 400,000 people that the average age is 32 for combat supporters and 30 for fighters. It constitutes 70% of the order of the IDF forces, and 17% of it are officers. Reserve service in Israel is the fulfillment of the civil obligation to act in the security forces of the state, usually within the Israel Defense Forces , which applies to any citizen or permanent resident who has not received an exemption from service and who is not in regular service . The purpose of the service is to reinforce the regular army in an emergency situation: war , military operation or natural disaster ; And in the routine: training and training and ongoing security.
This comprehensive reserve system, the most demanding of any in the world, was vital to Israel's defense posture. It allowed the country to limit the full-time manpower within the IDF, thus freeing vitally needed people for civilian tasks during most of the year. Because of the reserve system, the IDF could triple in size within forty-eight to seventy-two hours of the announcement of a full mobilization. The system was burdensome for most Israeli citizens but provided a source of escape from everyday routine for some. Most Israelis regarded reserve duty as a positive social phenomenon, making an important contribution to democracy by reducing class distinctions.
Nevertheless, it was undeniably a source of discontent to many, especially those assigned to dangerous and disagreeable patrol and policing duties in southern Lebanon and in the occupied territories. Reserve duty causes a great deal of hardship, particularly at the stage when young people set out to establish themselves. There are interruptions of production schedules, of university studies, of the normal flow of economic activity. In order to minimize the impact, a series of mixed civilian-military committees was set up to consider requests for deferment: certain industries or services have been declared essential and their personnel are exempted from reserve duty; for students there are deferred examinations and no student will miss a year on account of reserve service.
"In the Bible, reserve work is the time when the priests are trained in their first days," says Yaakov Etzion, a researcher in the historical dictionary of the Hebrew Language Academy. "One of the explanations for the origin of the word is that they gave the future priests tools, which they 'filled their hands' - a sign of starting work." 2000 years pass, and the British mandate rules the land of Israel, which calls the companies that filled the gaps in the army's ranks as Reserve Forces. The Haganah and Palmach organizations, which constituted the military force of the Jewish settlement, also adopted the word - "reserve".
"Ben Gurion, who was a great lover of Hebrew," says Etzion, "insisted that the companies be called AML - Reserve Reserves." At a meeting of the State Council in 1948, Israel's first Prime Minister declared: "In order to find the manpower needed for the army, and from maintaining as much as possible. it is possible so that the manpower needed for the needs of the economy is not harmed, the government decided to establish reserves that will be housed in Netrikon under the name of Amal.
This vision of Ben-Gurion did not last long, and after the 1960s the word "reserves" was removed from the pages of official documents. "Many times in the Hebrew language," Etzion points out, "only the second part of the word combination is used, so the saying 'you need to raise the reserve reserves' quickly became 'raise the reserves' - fast and typical speech for the army. It remains that way to this day."
One of the things that are most identified with reserves, aka order 8. And what does the number mean? The story this time is much shorter: it is the number of the section in the Security Service Law from 1949. Since then the number of the section in the law has been changed several times, but the name of the order remains common.
The Defense Service Law required that each male conscript, upon completion of his active-duty service, had an obligation to perform reserve duty (miluim) and continue to train on a regular basis until age fifty-four. Very few women were required to do reserve duty but were subject to call-up until the age of thirty-four if they had no children. The duration of annual reserve duty depended on security and budgetary factors, as well as specialty and rank. After 1967 reserve duty generally lengthened as the IDF experienced a growing manpower need. The average length of reserve duty was temporarily increased from thirty to sixty days in early 1988 to help deal with the Palestinian uprising. After about age thirty-nine, reservists no longer served in combat units.
The exemption from reserve service is extensive - in practice, only about 6% of the country's population is registered in the reserve system, and only about 1.5% of the population are active reservists, who serve more than twenty days every three years. The formation's soldiers are stationed in reserve units, where they hold most positions up to the level of battalion commander, as well as in headquarters positions in the reserve brigades and divisions, and some are stationed in regular military units.
The legal exemption age from reserve service for men is 40 for soldiers, 45 for officers, and 49 for certain positions determined by the Minister of Defense with the approval of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee (mainly positions in the medical system , drivers of heavy vehicles, mechanics and technicians). Unmarried women serve in the reserves until the age of 24 (or 34 in special professions), although by law they can be called up until the age of 38.
The purpose of the Reserve Service Law, 2008, was to define the structure of the reserve system of the Israel Defense Forces, its competence and goals, as well as the outline for the call to reserve service and the duties and rights of the reserve soldier, all while seeing the reserve system as an integral part of the Israel Defense Forces, which is a central pillar on which the army relies for the purposes of national security And while seeing the members of the reserve system as making a unique contribution to the State of Israel.
The Minister of Defense may, with the approval of a committee of Foreign Affairs and Defense, in emergency circumstances and after being convinced that the security of the state requires it - call, by order, every reservist to report for reserve service as stipulated in the order, at the place and at the time specified in the order, and to serve in reserve service as long as the order is in effect. The MInister can extend the duration of service to 108 days, if he believed that longer training and training periods were necessary, or with regard to certain positions and professions. The call-up of reservists for routine security tasks was also limited, and is currently limited to 25 days, once every three years.
The Reserve Service Law limited the state's authority to recruit reserve personnel, and established additional compensation for the servicemen, so that the principle of a professional army began to be established, The law anchored the army's tendency to operate a selective reserve service, so that young men who insist on being released from the reserves are exempt in most cases, even if they are officially required to serve. The Chief Reserve Officer is an officer at the rank of lieutenant colonel who is in charge of the reserve formation in the IDF. The position of Chief Reserve Officer (CCO) was established for the first time in 2002, in response to the demands of the reserve soldiers for professional care in all military and civilian aspects of the reserve service.
Until then, there was no dedicated organization within the army that represented the interests of the reservists within the army, government institutions and other civilian institutions. The reserve servants will be represented informally by civil associations. The problems of the reserve system came up for discussion from time to time in the public debate through civil lobbying in the Knesset or as appeals and initiatives by soldiers and local organizations. One of the milestones in the work of the Chief Reserve Officer Command was the enactment of the Reserve Service Law in 2008.
Remuneration of reservists is arranged through the Institute of National Insurance. Workers continue to draw regular pay and the employer is compensated by the Institute. Self-employed persons are compensated up to a specified ceiling.
In the past, evasion of reserve duty had been regarded as a violation of the individual's duty to the nation, verging on treasonous behavior. In September 1988, however, the media revealed the existence of a bribery ring of doctors and senior IDF personnel officers that sold medical exemptions for sums ranging from US$300 to US$500. The lengthy military obligation was also believed to be a major cause of emigration, although the number who had left Israel for this reason could not be accurately estimated. The IDF required Israeli citizens of military age to obtain the permission of their reserve unit before traveling abroad.
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