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An impending political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and dividing the country.

Popular sentiment on the matter has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of war, and this is now arguably the most explosive political challenge facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Struggle

Lawmakers are currently considering a piece of legislation to abolish the special status awarded to ultra-Orthodox men engaged in Torah study, instituted when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

This arrangement was struck down by the Supreme Court in the early 2000s. Interim measures to extend it were finally concluded by the bench last year, compelling the government to commence conscription of the community.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Friction Spill Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with lawmakers now deliberating a new legislative proposal to require Haredi males into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the bill.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to rescue Military Police officers who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have sparked the creation of a new alert system called "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and mobilize activists to block enforcement from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked one protester. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A World Set Aside

However the changes sweeping across Israel have not reached the confines of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, scholars learn in partnerships to debate the Torah, their vividly colored notepads contrasting with the rows of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the leader of the seminary, the spiritual guide, noted. "Through religious study, we shield the soldiers in the field. This is our army."

The community holds that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's military, and are as crucial to its military success as its tanks and air force. This conviction was accepted by previous governments in the past, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that Israel was changing.

Increasing Popular Demand

This religious sector has significantly increased its percentage of the nation's citizens over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes a sizable minority. What began as an deferment for several hundred religious students evolved into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a cohort of some 60,000 men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls suggest support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. Research in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of secular and traditional Jews - even a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored sanctions for those who declined a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in supporting cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who are part of this country without serving," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an justification not to fulfill your duty to your state," added a young woman. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of a Religious City

Support for broadening conscription is also coming from observant Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the seminary and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Torah, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

The resident maintains a small memorial in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Rows of images {