Amid the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, which led last week to the release of all remaining living hostages after two years in captivity, the IDF is moving to regulate its reserve recruitment system.
In recent days, according to Ynet's sister publication Calcalist, the military's Manpower Directorate issued new guidelines for recruiting reservists that will take effect in early November.
The directives are meant to address several practices that emerged during the war. The most prominent was that some units began recruiting reservists publicly by posting “help wanted” ads on social media. Under the updated policy, this practice will be banned and allowed only through the IDF’s official MilJobs platform. Starting in November, units will not be permitted to publish open calls for reservists through public channels as they did during the war.
The new rules are also intended to limit the frequent transfers of reservists between units. According to defense officials, the direct cost of the two-year war is estimated at about 220 billion shekels. Roughly 70 billion shekels went toward mobilizing hundreds of thousands of reservists for extended periods under emergency call-up orders. Frequent and prolonged reserve mobilizations drew criticism from the Finance Ministry for inefficiency and excessive spending.
Many reservists, tied to their units for long stretches, were absent from their civilian jobs, which hurt the economy. Some performed what became known as "hybrid service," combining operational duties with their civilian work. Under the new directives, a reserve duty day must last at least eight hours. Home standby duty will be restricted and require special authorization. Units were also instructed that the number of reservists serving at any given time may not exceed 20 percent of the unit’s total personnel.
Over the summer, as part of preparations for Operation Gideon Chariots II, the IDF began calling up tens of thousands of reservists to free regular troops for combat in Gaza. The operation is planned to continue at least through March 2026 and will rely on about 130,000 reservists.
Despite the ceasefire and ongoing efforts to maintain it under U.S. and international mediation, the IDF has not yet released tens of thousands of soldiers mobilized under emergency orders, waiting for clearer conditions on the ground.