Moshe Feiglin: No Money for Reservist Training? There’s a Simple Solution

Yesterday, Israel’s Chief of Staff announced that reservist training would be stopped due to lack of funding.

When the Knesset deliberated on this year’s budget, I warned that the IDF was about to spend huge sums of money on the bluff called ‘equal draft for all’. The Deputy Defense Minister did not contradict my statement; he simply said that values cost money.  So now, please do not make the ridiculous claim that there is no money for reservist training and no money for the combat soldiers.

The solution is simple: Israel must stop funding tens of thousands of soldiers who are not really needed and do nothing but make more work and expense for the system. Everybody should be drafted for a brief training period of one or two months. The IDF will choose the cream of the crop, who will remain in the army of their own free will for a long period of time. Those soldiers will get the best training and will receive excellent salaries.

In short, Israel will have a professional volunteer army. This will free many young people into the workforce. The army will be top quality, skillful and much less expensive than the large and bloated army that we have today.