🔗 Share this article

A gathering political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is jeopardizing the governing coalition and splitting the nation.

Popular sentiment on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel after two years of war, and this is now possibly the most volatile political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Conflict

Politicians are now debating a draft bill to abolish the special status granted to Haredi students engaged in Torah study, established when the the nation was founded in 1948.

The deferment was ruled illegal by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to extend it were finally concluded by the judiciary last year, forcing the administration to begin drafting the community.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were sent out last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to military testimony presented to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with lawmakers now discussing a new conscription law to compel Haredi males into national service alongside other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are furious with parliament's discussion of the bill.

Recently, a elite police squad had to extract army police who were attacked by a big group of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system named "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and mobilize protesters to stop detentions from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle the Jewish faith in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It doesn't work."

An Environment Apart

But the changes affecting Israel have not reached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars study together to discuss Jewish law, their vividly colored school notebooks contrasting with the lines of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "By studying Torah, we shield the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's military, and are as crucial to its defense as its tanks and air force. That belief was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Rising Popular Demand

This religious sector has more than doubled its percentage of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now represents 14%. An exemption that started as an deferment for several hundred religious students turned into, by the onset of the Gaza war, a group of tens of thousands of men left out of the draft.

Surveys indicate approval of ending the exemption is increasing. Research in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing almost three-quarters in his own coalition allies - favored sanctions for those who declined a call-up notice, with a firm majority in supporting cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who live in this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your state," stated Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Perspectives from Inside Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also coming from traditional Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who lives near the yeshiva and highlights religious Zionists who do perform national service while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't enlist," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the Torah and the weapons together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak manages a local tribute in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Lines of faces {