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An impending 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 matter has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of conflict, and this is now possibly the most explosive political issue facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Battle

Lawmakers are currently considering a draft bill to terminate the special status awarded to Haredi students dedicated to full-time religious study, created when the the nation was declared in 1948.

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

Approximately 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to army data presented to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the streets, with elected officials now deliberating a new legislative proposal to compel ultra-Orthodox men into national service together with other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were confronted this month by hardline activists, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the bill.

Recently, a elite police squad had to extract army police who were attacked by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new communication network dubbed "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon protesters to block enforcement from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said one protester. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

An Environment Separate

However the changes affecting Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Torah academy in a Haredi stronghold, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, teenage boys study together to discuss the Torah, their distinctive school notebooks standing out against the lines of formal attire and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the head of the yeshiva, the spiritual guide, said. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the troops wherever they are. This is our army."

The community holds that constant study and religious study defend Israel's military, and are as essential to its defense as its conventional forces. That belief was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

This religious sector has grown substantially its percentage of Israel's population over the past seven decades, and now represents around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exception for several hundred religious students evolved into, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a body of some 60,000 men left out of the national service.

Polling data suggest support for ending the exemption is increasing. A survey in July found that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - even a significant majority in his own coalition allies - backed penalties for those who declined a call-up notice, with a firm majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are citizens who are part of this nation without serving," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your state," added Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Backing for ending the exemption is also found among religious Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who resides close to the yeshiva and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the messianic era."

The resident manages a local tribute in the neighborhood to soldiers from the area, both observant and non-observant, who were lost in conflict. Long columns of images {