Question

As a Haredi man whose father served in the army, I was never convinced by the argument that exempts Haredim from enlisting and sharing the burden—because of the need for Torah study, and because it protects and saves, and all that.
But in quite a few cases, past and present, there is something that does make me think there is some justice to Haredim in particular—and really to any citizen who wants to stay alive—not enlisting.
I’m bringing this up here because of the story of the Golani soldier who hesitated to engage a terrorist armed with a firebomb. Without getting into the details of the specific case or the soldier’s reasons for not responding, many good people argue—rightly, in this case and in countless others—that this is a result of an excess of ethics and “purity of arms,” in which the IDF is wading up to its neck. The honor of being the most moral army in the world, and hanging medals of tolerance and restraint on itself. Many people feel that the IDF keeps drumming into the fighters, to the point of nausea, and drains away all motivation, etc. (An anecdote I personally witnessed: during the period when soldiers took control of the Turkish flotilla ship, I happened to be at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. Some soldiers were standing there and taunting a yeshiva student. Among other things they asked him, “Hey, man, want to hold a rifle?” The Haredi fellow ran his hand over the beginnings of his beard and answered them: “Yes, but only if the rifle is real and not plastic…”)
In the days after the incident with the soldier in Kedumim, the Golani commander sent out a somewhat combative and patriotic letter about restoring the soldiers’ lost honor. On the other hand, other soldiers testify that in presentations and in various documents it says that a firebomb is not classified as a firearm.
And again, in a fixed ritual that would not have shamed the paths and tracks on “Yeshiva Hill,” these prove and those refute, discussing and hair-splitting over the rules of engagement above the heads of the poor soldiers, who go out confused into the killing fields and, with their backs to the wall, must choose between being thrown out of the army at best or getting hammered by the military prosecutor at worst.
In light of the incident, I thought maybe this is an opportunity to ask the Rabbi:

1. As an ordinary citizen, does the Rabbi think there is any point in taking risks and extending a hand to a cheap show at an expensive price? (I recall that in one of the rounds of fighting around Gaza, the Rabbi wrote something on this topic, but I couldn’t find where.)
2. Does Jewish law have an opinion on taking such risks in cases like these?

Thanks in advance.