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A looming crisis over drafting Haredi men into the Israeli army is posing a risk to Israel's government and dividing the country.

Public opinion on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most explosive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Battle

Politicians are currently considering a piece of legislation to terminate the exemption granted to ultra-Orthodox men dedicated to Torah study, created when the modern Israel was declared in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to extend it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, pressuring the cabinet to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 enlistment orders were sent out last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to military testimony given to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with lawmakers now deliberating a new draft bill to compel Haredi males into military service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the legislative debate of the bill.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to extract Military Police officers who were attacked by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new communication network named "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon activists to stop detentions from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," said one protester. "You can't fight against Judaism in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Set Aside

But the transformations blowing through Israel have not reached the walls of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys sit in pairs to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive writing books standing out against the rows of formal attire and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the leader of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "Through religious study, we safeguard the soldiers on the front lines. This is our army."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and religious study defend Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its military success as its conventional forces. This tenet was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the earlier decades, he said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has grown substantially its percentage of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now constitutes around one in seven. An exemption that started as an deferment for a few hundred religious students became, by the start of the 2023 war, a cohort of some 60,000 men left out of the conscription.

Polling data indicate backing for ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A survey in July found that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in his own coalition allies - supported penalties for those who ignored a draft order, with a firm majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, passports, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are people who reside in this country without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your nation," said Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from Within the Community

Backing for broadening conscription is also expressed by observant Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the yeshiva and highlights religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that this community don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the Torah and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a small memorial in the neighborhood to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Lines of faces {