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

Public opinion on the question has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of conflict, and this is now possibly the most explosive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Conflict

Legislators are currently considering a proposal to terminate the deferment awarded to Haredi students enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the early 2000s. Temporary arrangements to extend it were officially terminated by the bench last year, compelling the government to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Into Violence

Friction is spilling onto the streets, with elected officials now debating a new legislative proposal to force Haredi males into national service together with other secular Israelis.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are furious with the legislative debate of the bill.

Recently, a elite police squad had to extract army police who were attacked by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new messaging system named "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and call out demonstrators to stop detentions from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said one protester. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A World Separate

But the changes affecting Israel have not reached the confines of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students learn in partnerships to analyze Jewish law, their vividly colored writing books popping against the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the leader of the seminary, a senior rabbi, noted. "Through religious study, we shield the soldiers on the front lines. This is how we contribute."

Haredi Jews maintain that constant study and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its military success as its advanced weaponry. This conviction was accepted by previous governments in the past, the rabbi said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Increasing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has more than doubled its share of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now accounts for around one in seven. An exemption that started as an deferment for a few hundred yeshiva attendees became, by the onset of the 2023 war, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men left out of the draft.

Polling data suggest approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. Research in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - even a significant majority in his own coalition allies - supported sanctions for those who refused a call-up notice, with a firm majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"I feel there are people who reside in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your country," stated 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."

Perspectives from Inside the Community

Backing for broadening conscription is also found among observant Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the yeshiva and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak runs a local tribute in her city to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Lines of images {