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A gathering political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine Israel's government and fracturing the country.

Public opinion on the question has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most divisive political issue facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Struggle

Politicians are now debating a proposal to terminate the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars enrolled in yeshiva learning, created when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Temporary arrangements to extend it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, pressuring the cabinet to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but only around 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with lawmakers now debating a new conscription law to require Haredi males into national service alongside other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the bill.

Recently, a specialized force had to rescue Military Police officers who were targeted by a big group of community members as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have sparked the creation of a new messaging system named "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize protesters to prevent arrests from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," said Shmuel Orbach. "You can't fight against religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It doesn't work."

A World Apart

Yet the shifts sweeping across Israel have not reached the confines of the religious seminary in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars learn in partnerships to debate Jewish law, their brightly coloured school notebooks contrasting with the lines of formal attire and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the leader of the seminary, the spiritual guide, said. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the military personnel wherever they are. This constitutes our service."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and religious study defend Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its defense as its advanced weaponry. That belief was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Rising Popular Demand

The ultra-Orthodox population has significantly increased its share of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now represents a sizable minority. What began as an exception for several hundred religious students turned into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a cohort of tens of thousands of men left out of the draft.

Opinion polls suggest approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A poll in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a large segment in his own coalition allies - favored consequences for those who refused a draft order, with a solid consensus in favor of cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who are part of this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your state," added a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from Within a Religious City

Backing for broadening conscription is also found among religious Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who is a neighbor of the seminary and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim 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 signifies the Torah and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the messianic era."

She maintains a modest remembrance site in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Lines of photographs {