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A gathering political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is jeopardizing Israel's government and fracturing the state.

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 Struggle

Legislators are now debating a draft bill to end the exemption granted to yeshiva scholars enrolled in Torah study, instituted when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was declared unconstitutional by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were finally concluded by the court last year, compelling the government to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community enlisted, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now debating a new legislative proposal to require ultra-Orthodox men into army duty together with other Jewish citizens.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

And last week, a specialized force had to rescue army police who were attacked by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system dubbed "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and mobilize activists to prevent arrests from occurring.

"We're a Jewish country," stated Shmuel Orbach. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A World Separate

However the transformations sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys study together to discuss the Torah, their brightly coloured notepads standing out against the rows of white shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are engaged in learning," the dean of the academy, the spiritual guide, said. "By studying Torah, we shield the soldiers in the field. This is our army."

The community holds that unceasing devotion and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its military success as its tanks and air force. This conviction was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Public Pressure

This religious sector has grown substantially its percentage of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exemption for several hundred yeshiva attendees turned into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a body of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Surveys indicate support for drafting the Haredim is growing. A survey in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - even almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported penalties for those who declined a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in supporting removing privileges, passports, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are individuals who live in this nation without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your nation," added a young woman. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from the Heart of the Community

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also found among religious Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who resides close to the seminary and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"I am frustrated that ultra-Orthodox people don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

The resident runs a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Long columns of photographs {