The Israel Defense Forces is on high alert ahead of the elections, with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir ordering a military-wide leave freeze beginning Thursday and additional troop deployments across all sectors. The decisions were made during a comprehensive security assessment covering multiple fronts on Monday morning, as the military prepares for the election period.
At the start of the meeting, Zamir emphasized that the IDF's mission was to ensure the democratic elections could take place as scheduled and in a safe environment. He said the military was on high alert and would maintain heightened vigilance and readiness across all sectors.
As part of measures to bolster preparedness, the leave freeze will take effect Thursday, subject to ongoing security assessments. The chief of staff also ordered an increased presence of senior commanders in operations rooms, command headquarters and military units to ensure operational readiness and effectiveness.
The IDF's Central Command will be reinforced by the Paratroopers Brigade headquarters and additional forces assigned to it, increacing troop deployments and presence on the ground. The brigade headquarters will serve as a dedicated operational command for the area between Samaria and Binyamin, in the northern and central West Bank. Additional forces will be deployed to other sectors according to operational needs, including in the air, at sea and on land.
As Israel Hayom reported Friday, the IDF is expected to reinforce its forces in Judea and Samaria this week amid an increase in confrontations in the area and with the elections approaching. An additional brigade headquarters has also been assigned to the IDF's Judea and Samaria Division.
The security assessment was attended by the head of the IDF Operations Directorate, the head of Military Intelligence and the commanders of the Northern, Central, Southern and Home Front commands.
Meanwhile, the IDF's elections officer stressed in a letter to commanders their responsibility to ensure that all service members can exercise their right to vote.
"We must all work to ensure that every service member can exercise their right to vote, while preserving the IDF's nonpartisan character and safeguarding the integrity of the elections," the officer wrote. "As IDF commanders, we bear the responsibility and duty to enable the democratic electoral process to take place."
