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A gathering crisis over drafting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine Israel's government and dividing the country.

Public opinion on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now possibly the most divisive political risk facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Struggle

Politicians are reviewing a proposal to abolish the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars engaged in Torah study, instituted when the the nation was declared in 1948.

The deferment was struck down by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Stopgap solutions to extend it were finally concluded by the bench last year, pressuring the administration to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to military testimony presented to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the streets, with parliamentarians now debating a new conscription law to force yeshiva students into army duty alongside other secular Israelis.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the bill.

Recently, a elite police squad had to extract Military Police officers who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new communication network dubbed "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from occurring.

"We're a Jewish country," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Apart

Yet the transformations sweeping across Israel have not reached the environment of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys sit in pairs to discuss the Torah, their distinctive school notebooks standing out against the seats of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, the spiritual guide, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we safeguard the soldiers on the front lines. This is our army."

The community holds that continuous prayer and religious study defend Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its security as its conventional forces. This conviction was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, he said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Rising Popular Demand

This religious sector has significantly increased its share of the nation's citizens over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for a sizable minority. What began as an exemption for a small number of Torah scholars evolved into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a body of tens of thousands of men exempt from the national service.

Surveys suggest backing for ending the exemption is increasing. Research in July found that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - encompassing a significant majority in his own coalition allies - supported penalties for those who declined a draft order, with a clear majority in favor of removing privileges, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who reside in this nation without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"In my view, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your nation," added a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from Within a Religious City

Support for ending the exemption is also found among observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the academy and notes religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I am frustrated that this community don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the scripture and the defense together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak manages a small memorial in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Long columns of photographs {