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A gathering crisis over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is posing a risk to the governing coalition and fracturing the nation.

The public mood on the matter has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of hostilities, and this is now arguably the most divisive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Struggle

Politicians are currently considering a proposal to end the special status granted to ultra-Orthodox men dedicated to full-time religious study, established when the the nation was founded in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the nation's top court almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to continue it were formally ended by the bench last year, compelling the government to begin drafting the community.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Friction Erupt Into Violence

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with lawmakers now debating a new legislative proposal to compel yeshiva students into national service together with other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to rescue enforcement personnel who were surrounded by a big group of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have led to the development of a new messaging system named "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize activists to prevent arrests from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," said one protester. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Set Aside

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

Inside the classroom, teenage boys learn in partnerships to analyze the Torah, their vividly colored notepads popping against the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the academy, a senior rabbi, said. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that constant study and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its security as its tanks and air force. That belief was accepted by Israel's politicians in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Growing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has more than doubled its proportion of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for around one in seven. An exemption that started as an exception for a small number of yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a group of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the draft.

Polling data indicate support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A survey in July found that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - even a significant majority in his own coalition allies - supported consequences for those who declined a draft order, with a firm majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, passports, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are citizens who reside in this nation without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an reason not to fulfill your duty to your nation," added a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to study Torah all day."

Views from Inside a Religious City

Advocacy of extending the draft is also coming from observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who is a neighbor of the yeshiva and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

The resident maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were fallen in war. Long columns of images {