Israel faces reserve troop, tank shortages: Army Radio

Told ya so!  Oh and trust me that this is just the tip of the iceberg.  The IDF is NOT designed for extended conflicts.  Its built for short, sharp fights in which a decision is achieved in days, weeks at most.  This what I don't understand about the view of the fight by their civilian leadership.  We haven't even talked about the toll this is taking on their economy.  But enough of my chest thumping.  Check out the article below.

via MiddleEastMonitor.com

Israel’s army is facing shortages of reserve personnel and combat-ready tanks, with some reserve formations nearing “effective collapse,” according to a report by Israeli Army Radio on Tuesday.

Under the headline “The Army’s Warning of the Collapse of the Reserve Forces,” the broadcaster said reserve brigades and battalions are operating below strength, with insufficient tanks available for combat.

It said a reserve armored brigade was recently deployed to a key operational sector in Lebanon, but accounts from commanders and soldiers painted a different picture from the one presented by decision-makers.

“These are not full brigades,” the report said. “They are far from it.”

According to the broadcaster, the military no longer has enough combat-ready tanks after many were damaged in fighting and taken out of service, forcing reserve armored companies to operate with fewer tanks than required.

----------

 Army Radio also said the military’s method of calculating reserve attendance rates gives a more favorable picture by issuing call-up orders to fewer reservists, while some of those mobilized serve only limited periods.

As a result, it said units reporting attendance rates of between 50% and 70% are, in practice, operating at much lower effective strength at any given time.

“Reserve units today are empty. A battalion is not a full battalion, and a company is not really a company,” the broadcaster quoted an unnamed reserve commander as saying.

“The public and decision-makers hear about full brigades in Lebanon, but in reality, they are much smaller formations,” the commander said. “The numbers of soldiers, tanks, and vehicles are significantly lower.”

He added that some reserve formations are in “effective collapse.”

“There are units in better shape and others in worse condition. Everyone is doing their utmost, but it is difficult to continue under these circumstances,” he said.

Here 

All this and they're in Lebanon about to be locked down in trying to hold a buffer zone which will attract every terrorist in the Middle East.  The crazy thing?  They're lining up Turkey as being the next target they go after.  

IF THEY DO SO THEN THAT WILL BE PURE IDIOCY!

Isn't Turkey a NATO member?  Unless Turkey's leadership does something stupid (like strike Israel) then we're looking at an Article 5 situation where the US will have to pick between NATO and Israel.

There is no win in that situation but what worries me is that Netanyahu might actually make a run against Turkey.

I have no confidence in that guy having an off switch.

We live in interesting times.