I cannot fully express how disgusted I get when reading these “chareidi” statements. If you all feel so terribly oppressed, why don’t you just LEAVE? Nobody is holding you down. Go to other countries – as rabbiofberlin said, I’m sure all of Israel’s neighbors would welcome you and provide the same financial support and military security you receive now. Better yet, how about you retrace your steps and go back to Poland and see how you do there. Wait a second, they banned shechita there… OK, how about Hungary, oh, wait, they may blow you up as you leave the airport. How about France? Sure, you may worry about someone walking up to a child and shooting them in the head, but at least you won’t have to join their army. FYI, the other European countries are not much better, we just haven’t seen their full potential yet.
The point is, if your head is stuck so deep in the sand, then you are correct – who needs to have hakaras hatov to the soldiers? According to you they aren’t even considered Jews, right? So what they risk their life for YOU, they owe it to you. After all, you learn in their zechus, you are the one to keep them safe. Is that right?
Let me explain it to you this way; you have it all backwards. The teenage soldiers that get attacked by so-called “charedim” did not put in place the policies of the draft. They are under it’s obligation to serve but they are not the ones trying to compel others to join. However, when they see this baseless hatred and vicious attacks, you better believe that they will support any legislation that will, in turn, make life more difficult for you. This is how hatred grows – through retaliation.
The Torah is supposed to teach us to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. To be an example to the “umos haolam”. I find it ironic that the people who claim to learn all day missed such an important lesson