“The thing is, Israel is an actual country in the world. Whether you agree with “Zionism” or not, it’s a country.”
The funny thing is that I am pretty zionist. I’m closer to being a Zionist than I am to being a chareidi. That being said, Israel isn’t the correct name either. I know Im not teaching you anything new but Israel is actually an English way of saying Yisrael which isn’t either the name of the country. The name of the country is Medinat Yisrael.
The Ultra Orthodox aren’t sending their kids to Israel because they want their kids to explore the world. If that were the reason, then any country would be fine. They send their kids to Israel because it is the land that God promised our forefathers and because when you travel the land, you are traveling the land of our people. The reason Israel is special is because it is eretz Yisrael. Even the secular Zionists know that eretz Yisrael is the land of our heritage.