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A gathering crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is jeopardizing the governing coalition and splitting the nation.

Popular sentiment on the matter has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now arguably the most volatile political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Battle

Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to abolish the deferment given to ultra-Orthodox men dedicated to Torah study, instituted when the the nation was founded in 1948.

The deferment was struck down by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Interim measures to continue it were officially terminated by the bench last year, compelling the government to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to army data presented to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new conscription law to require Haredi males into army duty in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

Two representatives were targeted this month by hardline activists, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

Recently, a elite police squad had to extract enforcement personnel who were targeted by a sizeable mob of community members as they attempted to detain a alleged conscription dodger.

These enforcement actions have led to the development of a new alert system called "Dark Alert" to send out instant alerts through Haredi neighborhoods and call out protesters to stop detentions from occurring.

"We're a Jewish country," said an activist. "One cannot oppose Judaism in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

A Realm Separate

However the shifts sweeping across Israel have not reached the walls of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students study together to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive school notebooks popping against the rows of white shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, the spiritual guide, explained. "By studying Torah, we shield the soldiers on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and religious study protect Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its security as its tanks and air force. This tenet was accepted by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that public attitudes are shifting.

Increasing Societal Anger

This religious sector has more than doubled its share of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now accounts for around one in seven. An exemption that started as an exemption for a small number of yeshiva attendees turned into, by the start of the 2023 war, a cohort of tens of thousands of men left out of the conscription.

Opinion polls show approval of ending the exemption is growing. Research in July found that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - encompassing a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - favored consequences for those who declined a draft order, with a solid consensus in favor of cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"I feel there are individuals who live in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your country," said a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for extending the draft is also coming from observant Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who lives near the seminary and points to religious Zionists who do perform national service while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the defense together. That is the path, until the messianic era."

Ms Barak runs a local tribute in her city to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Lines of faces {