Well, Avi k does not need my help as he is learned enough and erudite to defend his views but I thought I’d give him a hand. The religious Zionists are often accused of being blind to the failings of medinat israel but the blindness is more acute and more complete with the opponents of the medinah.
Neutiquam has a long entry that is only remarkable in its fallacies and misrepresentations. To write that the state’s halachic standards are not enough for any frum jew is a ridiculous argument and a false one. Since time immemorial, there have always been less than ideal regimes in eretz yisroel. Did that make the frum jews to leave and disavow the state? No, they tried to improve it by example and by exhortations. Never did they turn their back on other jews. And- to add insult to injury- the writer insults every jew who is not perfect. Keeping shabbos does not diminish that person even if he transgresses by eating pork r’l. More ridiculously, comparing that behavior to the Israeli government is just plain fantasy. Eretz yisroel is not-yet- a fully religious state but it is getting there. You may not have noticed but it has been pointed out that-for the first time- all three branches of the security apparatus in israel are shomre shabbos. Many other parts of the Israeli bureaucracies have been occupied by frum jews. That is a major achievement and things will continue to improve. Until the third bais hamikdosh, that will come down intact from the heavens, nothing can be built in one moment. It is indeed “aschalte de geulah” and only the obtuse refuse to see it in their blindness.