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A gathering political storm over drafting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and splitting the nation.

Popular sentiment on the question has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of war, and this is now possibly the most explosive political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Conflict

Lawmakers are currently considering a piece of legislation to end the deferment given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in Torah study, established when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was struck down by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Interim measures to maintain it were officially terminated by the court last year, forcing the administration to commence conscription of the community.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to military testimony given to lawmakers.

Tensions Boil Over Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the city centers, with lawmakers now debating a new legislative proposal to force yeshiva students into national service together with other Israeli Jews.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the bill.

And last week, a elite police squad had to rescue Military Police officers who were attacked by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new alert system called "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and call out protesters to stop detentions from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," stated one protester. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

A Realm Set Aside

Yet the transformations blowing through Israel have not reached the environment of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students learn in partnerships to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive school notebooks popping against the seats of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the leader of the academy, the spiritual guide, noted. "By studying Torah, we protect the military personnel in the field. This is how we contribute."

Haredi Jews maintain that constant study and Torah learning defend Israel's military, and are as crucial to its defense as its advanced weaponry. That belief was accepted by the nation's leaders in the earlier decades, he said, but he admitted that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its share of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for around one in seven. An exemption that started as an exemption for several hundred Torah scholars evolved into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Polling data show approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. A survey in July revealed that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored penalties for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in favor of removing privileges, passports, or the franchise.

"I feel there are citizens who live in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your state," said a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to avoid service just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from Within Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also found among religious Jews outside the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the yeshiva and points to religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the weapons together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Lines of photographs {