Despite government approval of the defense budget about a month ago, the IDF’s Ground Forces Command has canceled training planned for 2026 for about 25 units, most of them combat units, amid concern that the budget could ultimately be cut when it reaches the Knesset or that Israel could head to elections before the budget could be approved.
The IDF is due to begin implementing a new multiyear plan this year under Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir. The plan incorporates lessons from the war and is intended to bring significant changes to the military, including restoring the readiness of many units in the coming months. Those efforts are facing difficulties due to political uncertainty and renewed tensions between the Finance Ministry and the military.
Ground Forces officials informed roughly 25 units last week that exercises scheduled for next year were being canceled. Most of the affected units are combat formations, including some reserve units, operating across all three regional commands, Border Police units and undercover units operating under the IDF.
Among the units whose training was canceled are the Alpine Unit responsible for defending Mount Hermon in extreme weather conditions, five artillery units, the Yahalom combat engineering unit that specializes in tunnel warfare, a unit tasked with thwarting smuggling along Israel’s borders, the Golan reconnaissance unit, tracker units in the Central and Northern commands, the Eilat counterterrorism school and a Gaza Division unit.
Dozens of additional exercises were also canceled in support branches, including ordnance and maintenance, logistics, medical services, the Military Police, the Military Rabbinate and human resources. The IDF also canceled formation training for the newly established 96th Division, created last year to prevent mass infiltrations from the Jordanian border, an area long considered neglected.
Ground Forces officials are also considering canceling training for the ultra-Orthodox-only Hasmonean Brigade, a reconnaissance battalion in the Jordan Valley and additional combat units.
Military officials said that despite understandings reached with the Finance Ministry and the critical need to resume training after nearly two years of intensive war and continuous operational activity, there is real concern that budget cuts could harm unit readiness.
“We are conducting many shortened training sessions alongside operational missions to preserve a minimum level of basic readiness,” a military source said. “But a unit must take part in a full, planned training period at least once a year. Otherwise, the soldiers’ readiness is compromised.”
The source added that the IDF has absorbed large amounts of new weaponry during the war, changed combat methods and established new operational patterns that can only be properly implemented through structured training. While 2025 was meant to stabilize the military, the continuation of the war delayed those plans, leaving hopes that 2026 would allow a return to core training and readiness.
The military said that if the budget agreements approved by the government are implemented and the budget law passes in the Knesset, it may be possible to reinstate the exercises that were canceled last week.
The IDF said planning for the 2026 work year has not yet been finalized and will be determined at a later stage.