THE IDF - A TORAH OBLIGATION?

The following is a summary of the article:  
There is in fact a tremendous value and a great mitzvah involved in serving in the IDF. This commandment is divided into three parts, as Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda Kook, of blessed memory, wrote in May 1948, in exhorting the students of his yeshiva to enlist in the newly-formed Israel Defense Forces during the War of Independence:

1. SAVING LIFE
Not only are we bidden to preserve life, but there is also a negative commandment: "Do not stand by your neighbor's blood." This is a clear and fundamental prohibition in the Torah.

In any event, it is a great sin to stand idly by when one is in danger - and certainly when the whole Nation of Israel is at stake. Just as Mordechai told Esther in the Purim story: "You, Esther, must endanger yourself to save Israel; and if you don't, Israel will still be saved - but you won't."

2. TERRITORIAL INTEGRITY
The Torah commands us, "You shall inherit the Land" - we are enjoined to ensure that the Land of Israel remains under Jewish sovereignty (Ramban). By soldiering the IDF soldier is saving both the Nation and the Land. He is accomplishing two of the highest-ranking mitzvot (commandments) at once!

3. IN THE EYES OF THE NATIONS
The third aspect of the value of service in the Israeli army is what is called Kiddush Hashem - "Sanctification of G-d's Name."

This mitzvah can also be accomplished on a national scale, as we see in Chapter 36 of Ezekiel, where is written as follows:
"I scattered the People of Israel among the nations, and when they came into the nations, they profaned My holy Name, in that people said of them, these are the people of the Lord, and they have left their Land."

When Israel is in Exile, this is a desecration of G-d's Name. For the entire world knows that Israel is the People of G-d, and they know that our Land is the Land of G-d. When the People of G-d are not found at home in the Land of G-d, the world views it as if Jewish History has failed, as if G-d has labored in vain, heaven forbid!

THE RETURN TO ZION IS ITSELF A SANCTIFICATION OF G-D'S NAME!!