IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir said on Thursday during a situational assessment that soldiers should be Israel's "priority," following the advancement of a bill in the Knesset that reportedly equates Torah study with army service.
“Today marks 1,000 days since the outbreak of the longest war in our history," Zamir said at Thursday morning’s General Staff situational assessment.
"It is a war that began with a grave failure and the worst tragedy in the history of the State of Israel."
"From that tragedy, we rose, recovered, and conducted a war that achieved unprecedented accomplishments in the history of the nation," he continued.
"We are currently in an interim period across all theaters of operation. All arenas remain active at varying levels of intensity, and each is undergoing defining developments. The arenas are interconnected, and any action in one may affect the others."
"The achievements of the multi-front war were made possible through the determination and sacrifice of the defenders of the nation. The guardians of the nation’s metaphorical walls, driven by a sense of national responsibility, are first and foremost the combat soldiers on the front lines, supported by all the support units of the IDF," he added.
"The soldiers and commanders, whether in mandatory, career, or reserve service, are the State of Israel’s most important resource," Zamir asserted.
Soldiers should be first in order of priorities, says Zamir
"It is fitting and proper that they be first in the order of priorities to receive the nation’s appreciation through its decisions and allocation of resources, by caring for them, their families, and their future.”
The Basic Law: Torah Study bill, proposed by the Knesset's haredi (ultra-Orthodox) faction, is set to enshrine Torah study into the nation's foundational laws, a move which critics say would encourage draft evasion.
The government, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud, along with national religious parties, agreed to vote in favor of the proposal, which passed its first reading Wednesday in a 63-53 vote.
Despite Netanyahu's support for the bill, members of the ruling coalition have come out against the proposal, which would allow tens of thousands of haredim who don't serve in the IDF to avoid legal sanction and receive benefits for studying Torah.
The bill was introduced amid long-standing warnings from the military leadership about manpower shortages and the possibility of an emerging crisis.
Keshet Neev contributed to this report.