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An impending crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and dividing the state.

Popular sentiment on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel following two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most divisive political issue facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Battle

Lawmakers are currently considering a piece of legislation to terminate the deferment given to yeshiva scholars dedicated to yeshiva learning, established when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to extend it were finally concluded by the bench last year, compelling the administration to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were sent out last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Friction Spill Into Public View

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

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with parliament's discussion of the draft legislation.

Recently, a specialized force had to rescue Military Police officers who were attacked by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have led to the development of a new communication network dubbed "Black Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and mobilize activists to prevent arrests from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said one protester. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

An Environment Apart

However the shifts sweeping across Israel have not reached the confines of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students learn in partnerships to discuss the Torah, their brightly coloured school notebooks standing out against the lines of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the leader of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the military personnel wherever they are. This is our army."

Haredi Jews maintain that constant study and religious study guard Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was accepted by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Increasing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its proportion of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now represents a sizable minority. What began as an exemption for a small number of Torah scholars evolved into, by the start of the Gaza war, a body of approximately 60,000 men not subject to the national service.

Surveys suggest backing for ending the exemption is rising. A survey in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - even a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed sanctions for those who declined a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in favor of removing privileges, travel documents, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are citizens who live in this country without contributing," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your nation," added Gabby. "Being a native, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from Within a Religious City

Backing for ending the exemption is also expressed by observant Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who lives near the seminary and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it means the scripture and the defense together. That's the way forward, until the messianic era."

She manages a local tribute in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were killed in battle. Rows of images {