Avi K:
One must stop learning to do the mitzvos of tefillin and davening because they are ei efsher laasos al yisay acharim; serving in the army is not.
As for “those who are registered in yeshivot and kolelim but are not exactly learning every second”, somehow I don’t think it’s realistic to have them serve in the army only during whatever time they may be wasting. Therefore, having them serve in the army is still a problem of bittul Torah.
benignuman:
Again, there is no mitzva for the Charaidim to stop learning in order to protect their fellow Jews if the chilonim are able to do it just fine by themselves.
mdd:
akuperma’s point is actually quite a good one. Before 1948, when Arabs had no quarrel with us, we all lived together in relative peace and prosperity (not only in Israel, but all across the Arab lands). The problems began when the Zionists decided to create a state in the Arab lands, and the Arabs didn’t take too kindly to it. Therefore the argument could be made that the Israeli army is merely taking care of a problem that they themselves created, and should not be demanding the Charaidim’s help.
dveykus613:
+1