Knesset votes to extend mandatory army service to 32 months, though IDF had sought 36

Knesset votes 43-12 to extend mandatory IDF service for males to 32 months

The Knesset has approved a bill extending the mandatory service period for male soldiers to 32 months.

Forty-three lawmakers support the bill, while 12 oppose it and one abstains.

The bill was advanced over the objections of the IDF, which repeatedly urged the government to extend the mandatory service period for men back to 36 months, from the current 30.

Mandatory service for male soldiers was once 36 months, before being slashed to 32 months in 2015. It was shortened again to 30 months in 2020, before being extended back to 32 months a year later, with the planned reduction to 30 months postponed by three years.

In August 2024, amid the war, the mandatory service period was automatically shortened again to 30 months.

The first cohort enlisted under this shorter service period was supposed to be discharged in January 2027, which would have exacerbated the military’s manpower shortages.

Under the legislation, the mandatory service time will be shortened to 30 months in June 2029.

The IDF has repeatedly said it urgently needs 12,000 recruits — including 7,000 combat troops — due to the strain on its standing and reserve forces caused by the yearslong multifront war.

If the 30-month service period had remained in place until January 2027, the IDF says it would have found itself short thousands more soldiers.