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A looming crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the Israeli army is posing a risk to Israel's government and splitting the nation.

The public mood on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political challenge facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Battle

Politicians are currently considering a draft bill to end the exemption given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in yeshiva learning, established when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to continue it were officially terminated by the bench last year, compelling the administration to start enlisting the community.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 men from the community enlisted, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new legislative proposal to require Haredi males into national service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

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

Recently, a elite police squad had to extract enforcement personnel who were targeted by a large crowd of community members as they attempted to detain a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new communication network dubbed "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon demonstrators to block enforcement from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," said Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A World Separate

But the changes blowing through Israel have not reached the confines of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys study together to discuss Jewish law, their brightly coloured writing books contrasting with the seats of white shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the dean of the yeshiva, the spiritual guide, explained. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and religious study guard Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its military success as its tanks and air force. This conviction was endorsed by previous governments in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Increasing Popular Demand

This religious sector has significantly increased its proportion of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now constitutes a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exemption for several hundred Torah scholars evolved into, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a group of tens of thousands of men exempt from the national service.

Surveys show backing for drafting the Haredim is rising. A poll in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - including almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - favored sanctions for those who declined a draft order, with a solid consensus in approving removing privileges, the right to travel, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are citizens who live in this country without contributing," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your country," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "As a citizen by birth, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from Inside Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also expressed by observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like one local resident, who is a neighbor of the seminary and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that this community don't enlist," she said. "This creates inequality. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a teaching in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the scripture and the guns together. That is the path, until the messianic era."

She manages a modest remembrance site in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {