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A gathering crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to Israel's government and fracturing the nation.

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

The Legal Conflict

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to abolish the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the the nation was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were formally ended by the court last year, pressuring the administration to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Friction Spill Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with elected officials now discussing a new draft bill to compel Haredi males into national service alongside other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were targeted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the Knesset's deliberations of the bill.

And last week, a elite police squad had to extract enforcement personnel who were attacked by a large crowd of community members as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new messaging system dubbed "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize demonstrators to block enforcement from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated an activist. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A World Separate

However the shifts blowing through Israel have not reached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars sit in pairs to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured notepads contrasting with the rows of formal attire and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the head of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we safeguard the troops wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and Torah learning protect Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its security as its tanks and air force. That belief was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, he said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Increasing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its percentage of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now accounts for a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an exemption for several hundred yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a group of some 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Surveys suggest support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. A poll in July showed that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a large segment in his own coalition allies - favored consequences for those who declined a call-up notice, with a solid consensus in supporting cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who reside in this nation without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your country," stated Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from the Heart of the Community

Support for extending the draft is also coming from observant Jews beyond the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"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 saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the scripture and the defense together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a modest remembrance site in her city to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Long columns of faces {