It makes a lot of sense to say the Mi shebarach for soliders. Regardless of ones feeling towards the state, here are the facts on the ground.
1) Eretz Yisroel has the largest grouping of Jews in the world, with millions of Jews there Bichasdei Hashem. The Arab countries surrounding it, and some Arabs inside it are trying to kill these Jews Chas Veshalom. The Soliders are being Moser Nefesh to defend these millions of Jews against their enemies.
2) The majority of these soliders are Jews. At least 125,000 Jewish soliders are in the Israeli army, in a potentially dangerous situation.
You can’t compare this with Shomrim and the like. With the Israeli army, you have a whole country of millions of Jews being protected, and you have over 100,000 Jewish soldiers in the army risking their lives to protect these Jews. This has nothing to do with Zionism but everything to do with a significant amount of Jews being Moser Nefesh to protect millions of other Jews from blood thirsty nations trying to kill them.
(I do personally beleive that Medinas Yisroel is a Chashuv thing, as did The Ponivetzer Rav, Rav Dessler, Rav Yaakov Kametsky, Rav Yechiel Michel Tichotzinsky, The Tzitz Eliezer, Rav Ovadya, Rav Herzog, Rav Yoshe Ber, Rav Elya Meir Bloch, and many other Gedolim, and possibly a Mitzvah Daraaysa (Lichaora, Lifi the Ramban), but this is not relevant to this discussion. Even if one were to take a very anti Zionist position, the facts on the ground are as said before.
It should be noted also that many (probably most) Gedolim considered soldiers in the IDF to be heroes, and held that IDF soliders that were killed were considered Neharag Al Kiddush Hashem. Just a few examples:
Rav Chaim Schmulevitz would often tell his Talmidim that any solider who is killed in service has the place in Gan Eden of the Harugei Lod.
Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, when asked which Kivrei Tzadikim to Daven by, responded, “Theres no need to go all the way to Tzfas. When i want to Daven by Kivrei Tzadikkim, i go to the military cemetery in Mt. Hertzl to Daven (His Yeshivah, Kol Torah was right by Mt. Hertzl).
Rav Gustman went to ben Menachem Avel the father of a Ben Torah who served in the Idf and was killed during the Lebanon war. He told him “My son was killed Al Kiddush Hashem in the Holacaust, and is in a high place in Olam Haba, but your son is in an even higher place, because my son was killed without his choice, but your son willingly gave up his life to protect us all.” (page 192 in Artscroll’s Rav Gustman biography).
Rav Wolbe also writes about the tremendous gratitude we must have for the soliders, and that religious soliders are making a Kiddush Hashem.
Menu