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A gathering political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and dividing the nation.

The public mood on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now arguably the most explosive political issue facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Struggle

Lawmakers are reviewing a proposal to terminate the exemption given to Haredi students engaged in yeshiva learning, created when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to continue it were formally ended by the court last year, pressuring the administration to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to military testimony given to lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with lawmakers now discussing a new draft bill to compel yeshiva students into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by hardline activists, who are incensed with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

Recently, a elite police squad had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

These enforcement actions have led to the development of a new communication network dubbed "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and call out protesters to block enforcement from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said an activist. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It doesn't work."

An Environment Set Aside

However the changes sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the walls of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored school notebooks contrasting with the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the soldiers on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that unceasing devotion and Torah learning guard Israel's military, and are as vital to its military success as its advanced weaponry. This conviction was accepted by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, he said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Rising Popular Demand

The Haredi community has more than doubled its proportion of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now constitutes 14%. What began as an deferment for a small number of Torah scholars evolved into, by the start of the 2023 war, a body of some 60,000 men not subject to the draft.

Surveys suggest approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. Research in July revealed that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored penalties for those who ignored a draft order, with a clear majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are individuals who are part of this nation without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your country," said a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Views from Inside Bnei Brak

Advocacy of broadening conscription is also coming from religious Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"I am frustrated that ultra-Orthodox people don't enlist," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Torah, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the scripture and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the messianic era."

Ms Barak maintains a local tribute in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Long columns of images {