The myth of military service as a moral transformer in Israeli society began unraveling after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, when both civilian and military morale suffered unprecedented decline. Drawing from his experience as a former army chaplain, combined with ethnographic observation and historical analysis, the author reveals how pre-existing civilian behavioral patterns—including widespread cynicism, lawlessness, corruption, and social indiscipline—inevitably infiltrated the Israeli Defense Forces. The perceived invincibility of the IDF crumbled during the Yom Kippur conflict, exposing deep-rooted connections between civilian conduct and military performance. Personal anecdotes and firsthand testimony demonstrate that Israel's "civilian army" structure made moral contamination inevitable: individuals who displayed poor civilian conduct could not suddenly maintain higher standards merely by wearing uniforms. The findings challenge long-held assumptions about military service's transformative power and suggest that post-war military reforms alone cannot address these systemic issues. Instead, a comprehensive elevation of national moral and social standards emerges as essential for restoring both military effectiveness and civilian morale in Israeli society.