War in the North - To Be [Drafted] or Not?

Due to the conjunction of various zodiac arrangements, and the alignment of a few pesky planets (including the deadly Blood Star, Mars), I am in Israel, not yet a citizen, at a time of war. Yes, for you folks out there in the Diaspora, this one is being called The War in The North right now, since most people sleep in underground shelters in, well, every part of the country North of Tel Aviv (i.e., 40% of the population). While the UN surprisingly supports us, so does Europe (shocker); but the big surprise is that Saudi Arabia and Egypt, etc. are also, if not supporting us, criticizing Hezbollah (pronounced Ḥezb-Allah = Party of God). But all this you can read in the papers, at least the Israeli ones.

So to go straight to the point, Should I get redrafted and go fight? Here are some clues to this tricky riddle that I haven’t answered yet:

• Even though I finished my service, I am still “in the army” because I am in yeshiva. Guys like me get called up first. We’re called “shalatnikim” since we’re in a state of “shala"t.” That just means we're in the yeshiva part of our service.
  
• Even though I have 1 year left of “yeshiva/shalat” service technically, there is an automatic reduction clause that allows me to leave to go to school, in my case, YU. I just have to show them letters from YU proving it.
• Part of the reason I joined, even though it was for a short time only, was because in the event of war, when Israel needs every man it can get, I would be trained to help on the front, not flop around limply in a bunker.
• Although nearly all the active duty tank units have been mobilized, that “nearly all” excludes my brigade. We’re still guarding highways like reserve infantry.

Pro:

1. This is a war,
2. and they are calling up [some of] the reserves.

Con:

1. Israel doesn’t exactly need “every man she can get.” Me going to serve means that other soldiers get that many more furloughs.
2. Unless it becomes existential, and they call up all the reserves, I’ll be getting out anywhere between August 7^th and August 17^th anyway. That’s 10-20 days of service in a regular (non-reserves) unit, minus ~2 days for retraining – if they bother with that.
3. I won’t be serving in Lebanon in a tank, which they might conceivably need more skilled personnel (like myself) for – rather, my brigade is still doing infantry detail, which can be done by anyone, and is actually peacetime duty, so I’m not being called up for war-related reasons.
4. Adena and I have little time together as it is.

In the end, I think reasons Con #1-3 only have merit when they justify #4, since that to me qualifies as a hefsed merubah – an irreplaceable loss. That is, although it is a melḥemet mitzvah (defense of the land), I am not being called up for those actions; and the army can repay the lost R&R to its regular soldiers after things quiet down. The sooner I get out, the more money the army saves.

UPDATE: A few conditions have changed in the few days that have gone by since I began this entry.

1. My brigade just got moving orders earlier this week: they leave for the North today. (pro)
2. I just checked with KBY: I was not called up despite this: and even if I was called up, “my brigade” is no longer mine. If I rejoin the army, it will be with a newly formed Shalatnik Brigade. (con)
3. The war is being taken to the enemy (and heaven help us, their human shields). Whatever you read in the papers, this is not [yet] an existential threat where absolute numbers are crucial. Rather, this is a physical threat that does not threaten the existence of the State of Israel. It may also be a politically existential threat, in the sense that if we appease Hezbollah and Iran now, they may go so far as to actively try to destroy us that much sooner. But for political wars, you don’t need absolutely “every man you can get.” (con)

And so the question has changed: should I fight the red tape in order to get myself drafted, to be sent North? That, in the end, is a simpler question, which I think I can safely answer: No. The seductive machismo of being able to “tell the grandkids” that I fought in a war, that I can make speaking engagements at Manhattan synagogues for seudat shelishit, that I can fire my machine gun at The Enemy, and rough it out in my air-conditioned tank and take Polaroids…all these are the reasons why I did not join the army when I was 18 (see earlier posts).

Keep in mind that the halakhic analysis of “what kind of war is it?” does not determine whether a particular war is just or not; rather, it reveals to us whether it is so. And so one does not hide behind those long-established reasons: one heeds them.