Israel approves plan extending mandatory military service

PHOTO CAPTION: An Israeli tank maneuvers, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, near the Israel-Gaza border, in Israel, July 9, 2024. REUTERS/Amir Cohen

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - The Israeli government's security cabinet has approved a plan to extend compulsory military service for men to 36 months from the current 32 months, Israel's Ynet news outlet reported on Friday.

The 36-month rule will stay in force for the next eight years, Ynet reported, after a meeting of the security cabinet that took place late on Thursday.

The measure is likely to be submitted to a vote in a meeting of the full cabinet on Sunday, it said.

Israel's military commanders have said they need to boost manpower so they can sustain the war with the Hamas militant group in Gaza and a confrontation with the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia.

In a separate initiative, Israel is planning to send draft notices to thousands of ultra-Orthodox seminary students who were previously exempt from military service.

(Reporting by Christian Lowe; Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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