Karmeli Reservists Say Manpower Cut Came Before Syria Deployment

About 600 Karmeli Brigade reservists reported for training ahead of roughly 110 days of operational duty along the southern Syrian border, but soldiers said a manpower-reduction directive arrived one day before deployment. Dozens were told their emergency call-ups would close and they would be sent home. A battalion commander said the brigade's mission load had not changed, leaving fewer troops to carry it, and called the decision unreasonable after reservists rearranged work and family obligations and completed training. The brigade was preparing for its seventh rotation; the IDF had not responded by publication time.