New IDF initiative offers fast-track reserve duty for immigrants to Israel

Upon successful completion of this training, participants are assigned to specific units as fully-fledged reservists and commit to active reserve duty for about five years, subject to the needs of their respective units.

The initiative emphasises that participants are guaranteed financial security during their service, as reserve duty days are fully recognised and compensated by the National Insurance Institute (Bituach Leumi).

The next draft date is scheduled for February, marking the immediate implementation of this strategic effort.

The core logic of the programme is to leverage the professional and academic capital that older immigrants bring with them. Rather than placing them in general infantry roles, the IDF is directing these recruits into specific, high-demand sectors where they can have an immediate impact, including in medical professions, technology and maintenance, and roles in the Home Front Command and the Israeli Logistics Corps.

The overarching goal, according to the mission statement, is to enable olim arriving at an older age to "share in the responsibility of defence, feel a full sense of belonging, and apply their professional experience within the ranks of the IDF".

One sergeant (who prefers to remain anonymous), a project manager in the Planning and Manpower Directorate who made aliyah from Los Angeles, told JNS that the project was the result of a grassroots swell of demand meeting urgent military gaps.

"I don't even know who I could give credit to for how it started because there were so many people who came to us and wanted to do it."

He noted that the programme existed more than two decades ago, but emphasised that the current version is far more targeted than previous versions.

"The main difference being that it's more focused on really answering specific needs of the army," he stated. He described the programme as "really a set list of jobs... that the army really needs".

He revealed that his team went "branch by branch" through the IDF to identify exactly where personnel were missing in the reserves.

"Everyone would love more reserve soldiers. The question is where? Where could we be the most helpful in the most immediate way?" he said.

Many of the roles identified are a direct result of lessons learnt during the Swords of Iron war that began following the Hamas-led terrorist attacks in southern Israel on October 7. The sergeant highlighted a need for social workers and mental-health professionals as a prime example.

"The whole idea of a position that is specifically therapists and social workers… was an idea that I don’t think started just in this war, but we suddenly saw that we really need a lot more than what originally was in the Home Front Command," he said.

"Specialised doctors and similar roles are very hard for the army to get. It's people who have passed a lot of years of training. It's not necessarily something you can immediately draft."

Beyond the technical needs of the army, he stated, "olim want to come to Israel and be a part of the community and be a part of helping and be a part of the mission of the Israeli people".

Regarding the training, he explained that the two-week course is adapted for a more mature demographic.

"It covers all the basics, learning how to shoot in a very basic sense, first aid, the spirit of the IDF, the basic principles and ideas of discipline and how the army should run, while trying to do this as fast as possible, people are working, they have their lives, and this is a way to get them into reserves, not conscripted service," he added.

Colonel Doctor Hanan Shai, a research fellow at the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, told JNS that the initiative addresses a fundamental reality - the IDF needs more people.

"First of all, this confirms what we know… that we need every available person," Shai said. "From the perspective of the IDF, it is clear that this is a most important addition."

Shai argued that for the immigrants themselves, military service remains the ultimate gateway to Israeli society. "From the perspective of the olim, there is no faster way to be Israeli than in the army," said Shai.

He pointed out that the army must carefully manage the integration process to maximise benefits for all involved.

"One needs to see that they are not concentrated [in one place] but dispersed, so that there is a matching [to roles] as there should be," he advised.

Shai believes the government should leverage this programme not just for manpower, but as a Zionist recruitment tool to encourage further immigration.

"We need to show this as a Zionist act of the first order," Shai said.

He suggested that the state could offer additional incentives, such as assistance with housing, to those who serve.

"Maybe we can take care of them in a more assertive way so that they have an apartment for themselves or their family," he proposed, adding that frameworks for boosting service conditions already exist.