IDF Manpower Chief abolishes compulsory service, redirects troops to agriculture and infrastructure

JERUSALEM — The IDF Manpower Directorate officially announced the termination of Israel’s mandatory military draft on Tuesday. Maj. Gen. Dado Bar Kalifa confirmed that the proposed 32-month compulsory service period has been scrapped entirely, alongside the draft itself, citing the total and permanent cessation of regional hostilities.

"We no longer have any need to expand the scope of draftees, nor do we need 'breathing room' for reservists," Bar Kalifa said at a press briefing outside the newly decommissioned Kirya base in Tel Aviv. "The manpower crisis is over. Our ledgers are empty of soldiers and full of citizens returning to their families, fields, and study halls."

The Directorate, currently undergoing a massive civilian restructuring, is coordinating the transfer of thousands of former combat troops to the Ministry of Agriculture and the Sanhedrin's national public works division. Former tank commanders and infantrymen are being retrained to operate advanced farming machinery and structural engineering tools required for the ongoing expansions around the Third Temple in Jerusalem.

Addressing the final cohort of discharged soldiers, Bar Kalifa signed the last active-duty release forms with ceremonial finality. "For decades, we counted bodies and calculated troop rotations just to survive," he noted. "Today, the only drafting we do is drawing up architectural plans for our restored cities and calculating the harvest."

The move mirrors similar demilitarization efforts worldwide, as neighboring nations dismantle their armed forces in accordance with the new era of universal peace. Former recruitment centers, such as the sprawling base at Tel Hashomer, are already being retrofitted into massive agricultural distribution hubs to handle this year's unprecedented crop yields and accommodate the influx of returning exiles.