Joseph, the fact that you use that quote of Reb Elyashiv shows what I am saying, that you cannot separate the two issues.
Almost all Gedolim were against the Zionist groups for the same reason they were against the Jewish communist groups. This has little to do with the discussion about Israel being a great thing that we are thankful for. The Brisker Rav was thankful for it, but not to them. Satmar is the exception. They took it all the way and forced themselves into new ideologies that they hadn’t had until then, in order to back up the anti Zionist stance. As I said, it doesn’t have to be that way, but that’s the way they took it.
The Chazon Ish didn’t either like them, but did he rather live under Arabs?
I understand, there is a big Kasha: If it is really a good and important thing, how could it have come about through such people? It’s a good question indeed. The Tzitz Eliezer discusses it. Besides, you can’t make sweeping decisions based on a Kasha.