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A looming crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and fracturing the nation.

The public mood on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most volatile political risk facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Conflict

Legislators are now debating a proposal to abolish the exemption granted to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the the nation was established in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to extend it were finally concluded by the court last year, pressuring the government to begin drafting the community.

Some 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but just approximately 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Friction Spill Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with elected officials now deliberating a new draft bill to force ultra-Orthodox men into military service alongside other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by hardline activists, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the bill.

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of community members as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system named "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and mobilize protesters to block enforcement from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Set Aside

However the changes blowing through Israel have not reached the environment of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students learn in partnerships to discuss Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored school notebooks standing out against the rows of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the dean of the seminary, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "Through religious study, we shield the military personnel on the front lines. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and religious study guard Israel's military, and are as vital to its defense as its conventional forces. This conviction was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that the nation is evolving.

Increasing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its proportion of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now represents 14%. What began as an deferment for several hundred yeshiva attendees turned into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a cohort of some 60,000 men not subject to the national service.

Surveys suggest approval of ending the exemption is increasing. Research in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - even a significant majority in his own coalition allies - favored sanctions for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in favor of removing privileges, travel documents, or the franchise.

"I feel there are people who live in this country without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your country," stated a young woman. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to opt out just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from Within a Religious City

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also coming from observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the seminary and points to non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me 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 proverb in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the messianic era."

The resident manages a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Rows of photographs {