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An impending political storm over enlisting Haredi men into the military is jeopardizing the administration and dividing the country.

The public mood on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most divisive political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Conflict

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to terminate the deferment granted to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in Torah study, instituted when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Interim measures to extend it were officially terminated by the court last year, forcing the government to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with elected officials now deliberating a new draft bill to compel Haredi males into army duty together with other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are furious with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

In a recent incident, a elite police squad had to assist enforcement personnel who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new alert system named "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through Haredi neighborhoods and summon activists to block enforcement from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated one protester. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

An Environment Apart

But the shifts blowing through Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars study together to analyze the Torah, their distinctive school notebooks popping against the rows of white shirts and small black kippahs.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see many of the students are engaged in learning," the leader of the seminary, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Through religious study, we shield the soldiers on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that constant study and religious study defend Israel's military, and are as vital to its defense as its conventional forces. This tenet was accepted by Israel's politicians in the past, he said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Public Pressure

This religious sector has significantly increased its proportion of the nation's citizens over the since the state's founding, and now represents a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an exemption for a few hundred religious students became, by the onset of the 2023 war, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men left out of the draft.

Polling data suggest backing for ending the exemption is increasing. A poll in July showed that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - even a significant majority in the Prime Minister's political base - favored consequences for those who refused a draft order, with a clear majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, passports, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who live in this nation without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv said.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your nation," added a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from Inside Bnei Brak

Support for extending the draft is also coming from traditional Jews beyond the Haredi community, like one local resident, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the messianic era."

Ms Barak maintains a small memorial in her city to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Long columns of images {