In recent days, Israeli media reports have claimed the military is running low on certain equipment and troops.
On Tuesday, Israel’s Channel ۱۲ said the army had lost a planned purchase of ۱۲ Apache attack helicopters from United States manufacturer Boeing.
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The newspaper Maariv then reported on Friday that, on top of “severe” shortages, the Israeli military is preparing to suspend soldiers’ leave.
But is one of the world’s most heavily financed armed forces, which has received billions of US dollars from the US in recent years, really struggling with shortages?
Israeli newspaper Maariv reported: “The Israeli army does not have enough tanks and armoured personnel carriers,” adding that three years of war had worn down vehicles while hundreds have been damaged.
“For political reasons, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich can cut funding to the Israeli army and busy himself with complaints, while the opposition is preoccupied with internal struggles like reckless children,” the newspaper wrote.
Channel ۱۲ reported that the planned purchase of a dozen Apache attack helicopters from Boeing failed to take place because of a shortfall in the army’s procurement budget.
The report came a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed during a routine meeting to persuade opposition leader Yair Lapid to cooperate on increasing the military procurement budget.
Channel ۱۲ said the army was already warning that unless the requested funding increase arrives soon, efforts to return tanks and armoured personnel carriers damaged during the war to service capability would cease, while some ammunition production lines would also be affected.
Are these reports reliable?
Israel’s military is unlikely to be suffering from any real shortages, defence analyst Hamze Attar told Al Jazeera, adding that reports like this are part of a longstanding strategy to “over-exaggerate shortages to speed up replacements”.
According to Attar, the Israeli military operates with a policy of such extreme surplus that while other nations might consider a stockpile “combat ready”, Israel would view the same level as “critically low” as it aims to continue wars on multiple fronts without being restrained by external political pressure.
He said “leaked reports” often play favourably to Israel’s military by creating a sense of urgency in Washington and Europe to speed up weapons transfers.
He added that there is a perception in Israel of an increasing “change of hearts and minds” in the US when it comes to its support, and Israel is therefore looking to accelerate deals before any potential future policy shifts.
He used the example of recent reports that US President Donald Trump’s administration is preparing to sell ۶۰,۰۰۰ highly destructive, ۲,۰۰۰lb (۹۰۷kg) bombs to Israel in a multibillion-dollar package.
What weapon stockpiles and troop numbers does Israel have?
Israel doesn’t publish munitions inventories, so estimates about its weapons stockpiles come from a mix of leaks, think-tank estimates, and official denials.
Troop numbers are better documented.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance in ۲۰۲۳, Israel had ۱۶۹,۵۰۰ active military personnel in the army, navy and paramilitary.
A further ۴۶۵,۰۰۰ were serving in the reserves, while ۸,۰۰۰ served in the paramilitary.
Military service is mandatory from age ۱۸ for most Jewish, Druze and Circassian Israelis, while most Palestinian Arab citizens aren’t drafted.
Men currently serve ۳۲ months under a temporary law passed in July ۲۰۲۶ that reverts to ۳۰ months in ۲۰۲۹, while women serve ۲۴ months, with some roles requiring longer.
The military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has repeatedly urged the Israeli government to extend mandatory military service for men to ۳۶ months.
The push to enlist Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men does suggest Israel has been looking to boost the number of reservists amid almost three years of war.
Ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study had been exempt from military service since the state of Israel was created in ۱۹۴۸.
Israel’s High Court of Justice ruled this illegal in ۱۹۹۸, and repeatedly struck down a series of temporary measures intended to defer Haredi recruitment.
In ۲۰۲۴, the High Court again intervened, ordering the government to finally break the deadlock and begin actively conscripting ultra-Orthodox men.
In response, the military issued tens of thousands of draft notices to Haredi Jews, but compliance has remained minimal.
According to a testimony presented to the Knesset in July ۲۰۲۵, only ۱,۲۰۰ ultra-Orthodox recruits responded to the roughly ۲۴,۰۰۰ summons issued.
Does Israel need more weapons for its wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran?
Over the past three years, the Israeli military has waged wars across the region, including on the besieged Gaza Strip, where it began launching strikes in October ۲۰۲۳ in response to the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October ۷, and continues in different forms.
Israel is also fighting wars in Lebanon and Iran, alongside continuing military attacks in the occupied West Bank and Syria.
Attar said Israel appears to have enough stockpiles to maintain the current status quo in these conflicts.
However, given its history of military expansionism and recent rhetoric towards countries such as Turkiye, it is likely that Israel is “preparing for its next round of war with new enemies”, he said, adding that this will require more weapons.
