UJM-My point exactly. The crux of the issues we are discussing is how to structure a system of army exemption. Israel is not currently a theocracy in which we will be able to create laws based on pesukim or statements of chazal. The value of ones learning, mitzvos, level of yiras shomayim etc. is totally irrelevant to this entire discussion. When eventually the entire country becomes shomrei Torah U mitzvos we can then start a whole new thread to discuss based on halacha who should be sent to war and in what capacity.
The issue now is how to handle the situation, given the facts on the ground and the history behind them. I believe these are some of the issues that come into play but please feel free to add or disagree with any of them
1) The country needs an army to exist. This is basic hishtadlus in pre-messianic times
2) The country is made up of a majority of people who either do not view Torah learning as a valid form of protecting the country or would like to see even those learning full-time contribute in some physical way (non-spritual) to the defense of the country
3) The current concept of exemption for full-time learners (i.e the status quo) was created as half-hearted concession at a time when the situation was totally different than today (400 vs 66,000)
4) There is no way of knowing numbers, but there are many chareidim who are gaming the system and not really learning full time but still take advantage of exemptions
5) There are many in the general Israeli population who have grown angrier and angrier at the Chareidi population because of issues 2,3 & 4 and also because of the money given to yeshivas. The war has exacerbated this anger and the PR response from the charedim has not helped.
Understandably, as more soldiers are killed or wounded, more children of soldiers are left orphaned, these feelings of resentment grow. Even soldiers who return alive, many have put their businesses and lives on hold and thousands have psychological scars. Everyone has friends or neighbors whose lives will never be the same.
If the response to these people (who like it or not are in power) is quoting chazal and calling people heretics if they don’t appreciate what you are doing does not seem to be an effective way of improving the situation. Refusing to negotiate in any way will only last for a short time.
So getting back to the topic of the OP, it seems like the chareidi world could use a much better PR system and if that means cutting short the vacation time (which is much longer than the rest of the working population), might be a good start. Even a well placed “thank you” would go a long way
Mnay within this same majority are resentful of the chareidim