The Israel Defense Forces is planning to spend half a billion shekels in the coming year on training and equipment for its reservist soldiers after IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz authorized the recommendations of an army commission on the matter.

The committee, headed by Brigadier General Avi Mizrahi, is one of a series of panels of investigation established in the wake of the war against Hezbollah in the summer. It was set up to deal with matters concerning reservist troops.

During a discussion with the panel, Halutz on Monday approved the proposal for a huge budget for 2007, compared to the normal allowance for reservists, which would include NIS 350 million for training reservist ground forces. The amount is the largest allocated to reservists since the start of the second intifada six years ago.

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The army will also spend NIS 200 million for personal equipment for reservist battle troops. The move comes after an increase in complaints from commanders and soldiers over the quality of equipment available during the war.

The General Staff also examined the issue of lack of equipment in emergency storage facilities, and concluded that the situation is worse than initial than initially estimated.

The review also revealed that in some divisions equipment from emergency storage facilities was used to equip forces on operational duty in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. This contributed to the equipment shortage during the recent war in Lebanon.

The discussions over investigations will continue Wednesday, and the General Staff Forum is expected to review the results of three more investigations: Major General (res.) Itzik Eitan's investigation of the Northern Command, Head of Operations Directorate Major General Tal Russo's investigation of the Israel Air Force's performance in land battles, and Attorney Alon Galrat's investigation of the IDF Spokesman.