In recent days, Israeli media reports have claimed the military is running low on certain equipment and troops. On Tuesday, Israel’s Channel 12 said the army had lost a planned purchase of 12 Apache attack helicopters from United States manufacturer Boeing. 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. Channel 12 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 12 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. 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 60,000 highly destructive, 2,000lb (907kg) bombs to Israel in a multibillion-dollar package. Israel doesn’t publish munitions inventories, so estimates about its weapons stockpiles come from a mix of leaks, think-tank estimates, and official denials. According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance in 2023, Israel had 169,500 active military personnel in the army, navy and paramilitary.
A further 465,000 were serving in the reserves, while 8,000 served in the paramilitary. Military service is mandatory from age 18 for most Jewish, Druze and Circassian Israelis, while most Palestinian Arab citizens aren’t drafted. Men currently serve 32 months under a temporary law passed in July 2026 that reverts to 30 months in 2029, while women serve 24 months, with some roles requiring longer.
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