> But I’d hope you’d fight for the safety of your family and neighbors. Thats literally all it means to be in the idf for most.

This is a perpetual situation, given that Israel's pattern of territorial expansion is always military control over a new area, followed by settlement building. Since now there is a settlement with colonists living in it, now the same starting argument of "defending family and neighbours" applies, since you now need a "buffer zone" to keep the colonists safe, requiring more military control over a new area. Rinse and repeat, and Israelis are always in a situation to be forced to fight "for the safety of their family and neighbours". How convenient.

Well it looks like they derive some pleasure out of it: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/20/israelis-cheer...

The way things are going right now, the IDF is trying to cause the total destruction of Israel. Making more enemies when you're already surrounded by enemies (that you made) is rarely a way to any kind of survival. There is only one thing still standing between Israel and complete annihilation, and that's an endless flood of US taxpayer dollars that is at risk of stopping any month now.