IDI analysis shows National-Religious men driving shift in IDF reserve duty as overall numbers fall

An analysis by the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI) reveals a dramatic shift in the demographics of Israel Defense Forces reservists during the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. Researchers Dr. Ariel Finkelstein and Roe Kenneth Portal analyzed data from the Central Bureau of Statistics Labor Force Survey between 2023 and 2025, finding that National-Religious men are now significantly over-represented in reserve service compared to their share of Israel's population.

While National-Religious men's participation increased substantially from the war's start through 2025, secular men saw the most significant decrease in reserve duty. Despite this decline, secular men still constitute the largest portion of reservists on an average monthly basis. In stark contrast, Haredi men were nearly entirely absent from reserve service, with only 0.3% participating relative to their population numbers. Overall, participation in reserve duty fell year by year across all groups.

National-Religious men are now highly likely to volunteer for reserve duty, with 31% serving compared to their 15% demographic representation. By 2025, 4.1% of National-Religious men served monthly, compared to 2.6% of traditional men, 1.7% of secular men, and 0.3% of Haredim. This marks a significant change from the months immediately following the October 7 massacre, when 15.2% of National-Religious men, 11.2% of traditional men, and 11.2% of secular men served monthly.

Women's participation in reserve duty was considerably lower than men's, accounting for approximately 13.5% of all reservists monthly between 2023 and 2024. This contradicts other reports suggesting higher female participation. Secular and traditional women were overrepresented relative to their populations, serving at 2.0% and 1.6% monthly, respectively. In an inversion of the male data, religious women served at a smaller proportion (0.7%) compared to their civilian population. The analysis also noted shifts in sector participation, with the high-tech sector seeing the highest percentage of workers leave for duty in 2023, but participating at the lowest rate by 2025.