Q&A: Military Draft
Military Draft
Question
Hello, honorable Rabbi,
I read the long responsum that you wrote arguing for the obligation to enlist in order to fight the wars of God, so my question is: is someone who does not have Israeli citizenship also included in this obligation? (And does it make a practical difference whether that foreign citizen is in the Land of Israel or abroad?)
Answer
If you read it, it is written there. According to the view that this is an obligatory war, then everyone is obligated to enlist.
According to my view, this is not an obligatory war but simply a case of danger to life. Therefore, there is no obligation on someone who is abroad. However, it may be possible to obligate him under the law of a pursuer, to save the one being pursued, but that is said only about someone who is in the place of the pursuit (such as a foreign citizen who is in Israel). By the way, from here you can understand that in my opinion these are definitely not the wars of God.