“All combat soldiers are volunteers.”
Akuperma, if that is true, then I change my position. In that case I would only ask that Chareidim get a few months of basic training so they could be called upon in case of extreme emergency (i.e. all out war).
Kanoi, I understand that not all those serving in the IDF are risking their lives (although nobody starts as a general). However if Akuperma is wrong, there is no segment of the population that is spared their children being put in harms way other than the Chareidim. So while individual Mizrachi boys might be spared, their brothers are not.
I remember when R’Elyashiv gave his haskomoh to the Tal Law. His house was stoned by “Chareidim.” That was a Chillul Hashem. Chillul Hashem is a concept that speaks to how outsiders see Torah and Yidishkeit. Show me a public statement (i.e. one that can be confirmed) by any Torah outsider praising the Chareidi refusal to serve in the IDF, and I will rethink whether or not it is a Chillul Hashem.
Finally, the Religious Zionists and the Modern Orthodox have Gedolim too. The fact that you disagree with them doesn’t diminish them as talmidei chachimim and tzaddikim. People are tossing around terms like “Gedolei Yisroel” and “Daas Torah” but cutting out half of the world of Torah.