These are your sons daughters and future. KEEP BUILDING !!!!

We should note that, while the IDF budget has been cut and an "attempt to reduce wastage" has been made, the exorbitant pension payments to retired at 45 senior officers has not been touched and many of these "pensioners" get highly payed public sector jobs in ADDITION to their pension! In short it is a disgrace, but not a new one, that our soldiers who defend OUR country and are prepared to make the supreme sacrifice for our survival go hungry are inadequately clothed, while some citizens of Israel dodge the draft and others think that studying in the Yeshiva will stop terrorists from killing Israelis and have the cheeking to demand that the State supports them!

There is not enough money for regular troops and Lapid wants more soldiers in the army ! Stupid ideology

is imbalanced to the extreme. This is the root cause of the sickness which is afflicting Israel's society and the danger is that it is becoming inherent. This is the sickness, the symptoms are manifold and manifest themselves in the daily regimen that all of us follow. Rudeness, abrasiveness, disrespect for each other, disrespect for public property and for the law. Public servants are uncooperative, public services are a disgrace, the system is falling apart and the nation continues down this path with a three monkey attitude. The bubble will one day burst with such an explosion that we may not be able to recover. Prevention is the best cure for any disease. Corrections must be made before it is too late.

housing and food and the meager salaries was so little about all it purchased was cigarettes for those who smoked then. The alternative was to have no job. But with a draft in Israel and better times economically for the nation than for nations during the Great Depression, there should be more than that. The IDF does so much for so little. At least there is medical care and a pension if one is wounded but even that is not enough. A Messianic Jewish Rabbi named Daniel Montoya who as Ariel Arian ben Sariel was wounded twice on the Golan Heights by gunfire when he was in the IDF gets about $400. a month in a pension. He has a wife and three children and cannot get work other than to teach Torah portions to a few families in the Spanish language at Tabernacle ben David in Farmersville, California each week and subsist on what those few families can give him. My husband paid for his vehicle repairs last year as a personal favor and we don't belong to the un-accredited congregation in Farmersville. His wife Maria Martha is afraid to aliyah to Israel. He was wounded TWICE and suffers even now from his wounds. Shouldn't he be paid more than about $400. a month by Israel? That covers the rent on a small apartment in a low income area. US wounded warriors would be paid more than that, as difficult as it is for even them to get compensated by the US government.

...the problem is that the army needs to provide for it's soldiers, ie: 3 hots and a cot. When I served in the US Navy, my money always ran out half way to the next pay day. But, I always had a place to sleep and 3 hot meals a day. Additionally, it is sick that they put the price of a pack of cigarettes into the equation. These 18-20 year olds shouldn't be smoking.

on Peres Birthday party and just about that much on Netanyahu 's ice cream scented candles, and his swimming pool We are just broke get over it

Where do you think money comes from? From thin air/? Perhaps go to a library and read up a bit about what the history of money. We are not America who can print Trillions of dollars and have run $17,000,000,000,000 deficits to support a massive army.

the army has the money - it just needs to lower the huge salaries the generals get and lower the huge pensions (and at a ridiculously early age) their commanders get. It is a holy cow that everyone in Israel knows about, and yet no-one dares to touch. Army guys can go on pension like the rest of us - there is plenty of office work for ex-combat soldiers. All those "poor exhausted pilots" immediately go out to other jobs so they can easily stay in their own job. Our soldiers in regualr service should get a decent wage, parents should not have to support them.

robotic drones (air-based, land-based, sea-based) will reduce the necessity of human soldiers. Algorithmic war will reduce human involvement to a 1 to 10 ratio.

are making 1,000,000 shekels a year plus all medical expenses etc etc... Plenty of taxpayer money to IDF but it all goes to the top 10%

The US has them for US military personnel. Israel should do the same.

My Daughter just started her army service and I agree it is a struggle especially for the simple fact that on sundays when they have to return to base before 10 am they have to pay for the Rail Road tickets regular price of around 25+ sheckles one way,all because the railroad company has decided that due to the high number of commuters on that day soldiers can't ride for free during the time they need to get to base! So We have to shell out at least 100 sheckles so she has the money to get to base, as they don't receive salaries until he 1st of the month. We really can't afford to give her 100 sheckles each time she comes home,plus money to go out Friday night when she is home as we are on a fixed income. The Army and the Israeli Railways needs to treat our soldiers fair and give them free train fare all the time while they are in uniform, or provide them a steep discount or private free cars and maybe charging Civilians more to travel on Sunday mornings before 10 am to make up for their losses. The IDf also needs to provide them with better food,sleeping arrangements and discounts should be offered at stores and restaurants located next to bases, after all these young men and women are serving their nation so shouldn't the nation do the same for them?

One day: innovation nation, economic juggernaut and powerhouse, natural gas boom, hi-tech laboratory, start-up-nation. Next day: one in three children living in poverty, unbearable cost of daily living, no affordable housing, brain drain because of lack of jobs and opportunity and now IDF impoverished and soldiers not receiving needed food and clothes. So what is it or could it be both? If so, there is definitely something wrong which propably is called: income inequality by rough capitalism.

Professional armies tend to become societies within a society. Professional soldiers do not care about civilians. They see themselves as warriors above them and care only about their "brothers in arms". Only a civilian army, an army drafted among civilians, is loyal to civilians. You cant outsource security (who guards the guardian?) just as you cant outsource your thinking. In virtually any country with a professional army the typical soldier is either an opportunist unemployed loser with nothing else going for him or a trigger happy hothead looking to "score". All hail the sudanese, druze and bedouin army!

This isn't the 70s & 80s when the army had a huge budget, these days the army budget is not high at the best of time and now even more cuts are being made. Most the equipment is American paid for with military aid so it loos like the army has much more money than they real do. We can pay the soldiers what they deserve rather than what they get but that means cutbacks in other areas because we cannot have it all. The real problem the IDF has is it has to waste billions on jobnicks they don't need but they are there because the law demands it. Unfortunately the population is not big enough to a move to a professional army but then politicians waste fortunes on things like drafting the haredi rather than using that money to make things better for the current soldiers like giving them the raise they deserve or new equipment they need,

When it comes to the haredi draft nobody considers the army or the people currently serving all they think about is hatred of haredi and moan its not fair we serve but they don't. The haredi draft will come at the expense of new equipment so soldiers have to make do with the old and certainly there is no money to give raises. Lapid is so concerned about the haredi draft but his great contribute to the IDF was working on army radio. I would rather the IDF had no haredi or Lapids and more money for the people who are serving useful roles.

The generals are career soldiers, the army has been their job they didn't do 3 years compulsory service and then going to get themselves a job in the civilian world. If its a career then they are entitled to things like a decent pay check and a pension. The problem with the army is it has to many people like Lapid who spend his military service working for the radio. Do we need to be paying people to talk on the radio and although their pay is low they are not serving any useful service so they are a waste of money.

In addition to raising the salary, the country can help the parents of serving soldiers by continuing the Bituah Leumi benefits for another 3 years for boys and 2 years for girls. This would help kids who have to work to sustain their family (by working one week and serving the next week) by helping them stay in the Army and learning skills that can help them get better jobs later.

I find it disgusting that this little rich nation exploits and brainwashes it youth. How can you justify paying a soldier a $100 a month. It is insanity that the masses are so dumb they let this go on. I am not saying pay them like a US or Canadian soldier ($3-5000 a month average soldier), but at least give them money for a meal out and a movie every weekend.

There must be a clear distinction between "combat generals" and "office generals". Concerning the seconds, you are right. But combat officers' tasks are exhausting – They many times don't sleep at night, sleep often in small tents, and should be always at call, sometimes moving with their families from one barracks to another. These men are the backbone of Israel's security, and for their efforts and in order to keep them in the army, they must be rewarded generously.

This interconnects with the IDF's objection to drafting more Haredim who are surplus to IDF requirements. With increased technology Israel may need to streamline the IDF and raise the pay scale. A demoralised IDF would be a disaster.

I can't say too much about what goes on in Israel because I have never been there, but I would like to point out that this is NATIONAL SERVICE, and as such you are contributing to the betterment of not only your country but the training and real life experience you get has value also in your future. That said how many of these kids would be in college making NO money and being totally supported by their parents in many cases. You take all this into consideration with the fact that Israel is surrounded by nations that are always trying to exterminate them and I have to wonder why anybody complains at all. Suck up the disappointment that you can't buy a pack of cigarettes and be glad you're doing something that keeps you and yours alive and safe tomorrow and into the future

Is that why they have been allowing the placement of some 200,000 rockets all around Israel? Is that why everything is so prohibitively expensive, including the most basic food and other items? The answer unfortunately is: YES. The oligarchic elites, financiers are just squeezing out of the population what they still can and then discard them altogether like a used tube of toothpaste.

You say: "In virtually any country with a professional army the typical soldier is either an opportunist unemployed loser with nothing else going for him or a trigger happy hothead." You evidently know little to nothing about democracies' professional armed forces. I do. I served more than 20 years full-time or part-time in the U.S. Air Force, and I don't recognize the service members you claim to describe. Sure, some would have a hard time succeeding in the civilian world, but most would not because they have normal to above-normal IQs and they've learned the disciplines of doing their jobs properly, showing up on time, and following instructions. Many have considerable technical knowledge and skills. Maybe you're talking about the armed forces of third-world nations, but the United States armed forces -- particularly the Navy and Air Force -- have entrance requirements that keep out most of the truly undesirable.

To Joe #26. Perhaps in the States, the kids in college are supported by their parents but here most of them have to work. There is a problem of summer jobs, too, because the guys get called into reserve duty during the summer or at least that was the case when my kids were in the army. It's very nice to be idealistic from the States and say that the kids are contributing to the betterment of the country and getting real life experience but they feel like real suckers when so many around them avoid the draft. I'm not just talking just about the Haredim but also about ordinary draft dodgers of whom there are plenty. Giving the soldiers enough money to cover their expenses is the least the army could do. I'm sure the money could be found somewhere. How about cutting down on "fact-finding" missions by M.K.s or the number of people in the Prime Minister's or President's entourage when they go abroad. And, even if we wind up not drafting the haredim into the army, I don't think we should pay for their Yeshiva studies.

But they have a plenty of dough for those black hatted schnorers ,...