Reply To: Mi Shebeirach for Israel and the Soldiers

akuperma, the IDF protects in the manner of the hishtadlus that we are commanded to perform. As for the “whole idea of an army,” the name of this army belies what you say (“to have a war with the Yismaelim” [sic]). So does its conduct, which leans toward defensiveness even when something more offensive seems warranted. Finally, bodycount calculus is a cheap and usually a fallacious way to determine right and wrong in conflicts. In your case, it seems mistaken: Israel has lost around 25,000 r”l in all forms of Arab violence, and that sets the count at around 19 per year over your 1,300-year benchmark.