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A looming crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine the administration and dividing the country.

Public opinion on the matter has undergone a sea change in Israel after two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Struggle

Legislators are now debating a draft bill to end the exemption awarded to Haredi students engaged in full-time religious study, established when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Interim measures to continue it were officially terminated by the bench last year, pressuring the cabinet to start enlisting the community.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to army data presented to lawmakers.

Strains Spill Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new legislative proposal to require Haredi males into army duty alongside other Jewish citizens.

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

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to assist Military Police officers who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new communication network named "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and call out protesters to prevent arrests from happening.

"We're a Jewish country," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A Realm Separate

Yet the shifts affecting Israel have not reached the walls of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys sit in pairs to discuss Jewish law, their brightly coloured writing books popping against the rows of white shirts and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, the spiritual guide, said. "By studying Torah, we protect the soldiers in the field. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its defense as its tanks and air force. This conviction was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the earlier decades, the rabbi said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Growing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has more than doubled its share of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exemption for a few hundred Torah scholars evolved into, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a group of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Polling data show support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. A poll in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored penalties for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who are part of this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your country," added a Tel Aviv resident. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also found among traditional Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the academy and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

She maintains a modest remembrance site in her city to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {