In the shadow of the unending Israel-Hamas War and the unresolved dispute about trying to integrate more haredim (ultra-Orthodox) into the military, the IDF on Wednesday announced some of the major features that will characterize its new and evolving structure in future years.

It has been about three months on the job for IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Eyal Zamir and Deputy Chief of Staff Maj.-Gen. Tamir Yadai, sufficient time for them to have reached certain interim conclusions about lessons from the war to implement changes in the military.

One previously announced and publicly known change – in keeping with Zamir’s background as a tank commander – is that the IDF will establish a new tank brigade to increase the number of tanks available for combat.

The IDF has now provided a timeline for and details of the brigade, hoping to add one new battalion per year over three years (three battalions making up the new brigade), with the first battalion due to be up and running in the North in 2026.

Estimates are that about 500 reservists will be reassigned to fill the personnel needs of the new tank brigade.

Regarding the IAF, there will be a new larger attack-drone apparatus to reflect the growing reliance on attack drones.

There will also be an entirely new brigade for air defense, due to the need for more Iron Dome batteries and more personnel to man them, both mandatory service and reservists.

During a recent briefing on the changes, the IDF did not mention its recent announcement that it has laser defense systems that shot down about 40 Hezbollah drones last fall.

It is likely that some of the new air-defense personnel will also be recruited or reassigned to man additional new laser batteries that will be developed.

IDF will need to increase manpower, one way or another

The IDF will need more human resources to meet all of these military expansions.

Some of this may be achieved by increasing the length of mandatory or reserve service. This would mean a few more months for mandatory soldiers. For reservists, it would be by a few additional weeks per year on top of the estimated 75 annual days decided upon several months ago.

The IDF said it expected some of the new roles to be filled by larger recruitment from the haredi sector.

For example, the IDF has already begun to integrate several haredim into a new brigade that will guard the border with Jordan. Nevertheless, it needs many more soldiers to fill out that brigade as part of establishing a new full-sized division to defend that border.

The IDF has also added soldiers, supplies, and training for border villages on the various fronts. Moreover, it is adding some new units to expand some of the border commands guarding the various borders.

The military is also increasing the training and improving the supplies of some lower-intensity infantry units, enabling them to be used for more difficult border security missions in the future.

Many border units will also receive new intelligence collection units, and more resources will be used to anticipate and prevent any future attempts at an invasion on any front.

The concept behind this is that more boots and eyes on the ground can help prevent another surprise attack, such as the October 7 massacre.

Furthermore, the Israel Navy is expected to grow, especially regarding capabilities that allow it to project power, along with the IAF, against distant “third circle” countries, such as Iran and Yemen.

The IDF acknowledged that all of its plans could be wrecked by unpredictable developments in the Israel-Hamas War or by a failure to significantly increase haredi participation in the military.

Notwithstanding, it said many of the changes were imperative and could not be postponed until a more convenient time.

While the Bahad Echad officers training base will continue to train officers for all kinds of positions, its primary focus will be on training strong Ground Forces commanders, currently the most crucial job in the IDF.