RE: “What do charedim financially contribute to the state?”
1. Yeshivos are actually a major industry. Tens of thousands of non-Israelis come to yeshivos from abroad, spending huge amounts on both tuition (which goes to pay Israeli teachers) and living costs. The Israelis understate this industry since they regard anyone in kollel, at least if they are exempt from being drafted, as being idle and unemployed when in fact most kollel people (using American definitions) are employed in the same sense that professors, research fellows and supported graduate students are employed.
2. A great many hareidim have non-frum community jobs, but under Israeli law many of them are forced to work “under the table” to avoid being conscripted by an army that is for the most part quite hostile (except for some specialized units that are aimed for hareidim). If the army accomodated hareidi lifestyle and halachic interpretation, employment would be increasing “in the open.”
3. Whenever someone actually addresses the exclusion of hareidim from the mainstream economy, the hilonim scream “religious coercion” as in “What do you mean I can’t touch my female coworkers” or “Why can’t we have company meetings at my favorite restaurant so I can have my beloved pork chops” or “Why can’t we schedule our work schedules to match when the markets are open in America”, etc. Along with the fact the army has no serious manpower shortages, this suggest the move for “conscription” is solely motivated by hatred and fear of a growing hareidi population.