There is a tangible link between the Ahavas Eretz Yisroel and the medina. Before the medina, for most Jews, ahavas Eretz Yisroel was only theoretical. The medina has enabled us to make our Ahavas Eretz Yisroel tangible. The medina enables all of us to return home to Eretz Yisroel and be mekayem yishuv Eretz Yisroel. The medina is fascillitating a modern day Kibutz Galuyos, which may very well be the precusor to Mashiach iyH. There is more Torah in Eretz Yisroel then any time in history since the fall of Beitar (and maybe even more than then), and there may very well be more Torah in Eretz Yisroel than anywhere in the world. The medina not only enables this but is the biggest funder of Torah. They provide services to enable us to live here and provide an army as HaShem’s tool to protect us from our surrounding enemies. While the medina is far from perfect, we are all better off with medina, and owe it our undying hakaras hatov.
I know the original founders were not only irreligious, but anti-religious. I don’t know how HKB”H will judge them, but what they were able to build for us is undeniable. Their positive impact for Klal Yisroel will be enjoyed by us for generations iyH. And sometimes, when I think about it, it makes me sad. Many of the Rabbonim at the time felt that this irreligious anti religious Zionisim was incompatible with halacha, And because of that, many young Zionists who became pioneers of the eventual state had to choose between Yiddishkeit and Zionism… and belieiving that they had no future in anti semitic and genocidal Europe, chose ZIonism and a future in Eretz Yisroel at the expense of Avodas HaShem. They believed the Rabbonim that Yiddishkeit and Zionism were incompatible… and abandoned Yiddishket.
But I wonder… did it have to be that way? I wonder what the modern state would look like if the early pioneers and founders didn’t feel like they had to choose between one and the other? If we had more religious Zionists from beginning combatting the anti-religious element. I wonder how that state would look like then…
But HaShem decided that that wasn’t how the state was supposed to look. HaShem chose to grant our yeshuos throguh non religious and anti religious, and granted them great success. Now we have a medina, we have Eretz Yisroel, the positives and the minuses… ???? ??’ ?? ???.