Answers to Questions by Yair Davidiy (28 September 2017, 8 Tishrei, 5778)
How can Israel afford the draft for all of its citizens?
https://www.quora.com/How-can-Israel-afford-the-draft-for-all-of-its-citizens/answer/Yair-Davidiy
Israelis pay very high taxes.
Every piece of food one eats costs twice as much because of Value Added Tax (VAT) whose cumulative effects add ca. 100% to the price.
The same applies along the line especially in housing where about 60% of the price goes to government authorities.
Part of the all the money thus acquired, mainly from poor people, goes to the IDF.
The IDF needs to conscript more women and men than it actually needs.
The reasons are complex but include Ideology and the idea of remaking the Jewish People in another image.
I could say more but for unclear reasons Quora Moderation tends to close my answer down every time I do so.
It may well do so this time as well, or shut me out altogether.