Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has been more forthright than his predecessors in openly calling for drafting ultra-Orthodox draft-age men, and he has reason to do so: According to the Manpower Directorate, the Israel Defense Forces is short of 12,000 soldiers, of which 6,000 to 7,500 are needed for combat, and it needs ultra-Orthodox recruits to fill the gap. Despite Zamir's obvious distress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ignores him while the coalition's strong man, Arye Dery, accuses him of "aiding the leftist bloc."