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An impending political storm over drafting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and fracturing the country.

Popular sentiment on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Conflict

Politicians are now debating a draft bill to abolish the deferment granted to Haredi students dedicated to yeshiva learning, established when the the nation was declared in 1948.

That exemption was struck down by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Interim measures to maintain it were finally concluded by the judiciary last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the community.

Approximately 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but only around 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to military testimony presented to lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with lawmakers now deliberating a new conscription law to force yeshiva students into military service together with other secular Israelis.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with the Knesset's deliberations of the draft legislation.

Recently, a elite police squad had to assist army police who were surrounded by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new messaging system called "Dark Alert" to send out instant alerts through the religious sector and call out protesters to stop detentions from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked one protester. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It doesn't work."

A Realm Set Aside

But the transformations affecting Israel have not reached the walls of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys learn in partnerships to debate Jewish law, their distinctive writing books standing out against the rows of white shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the dean of the academy, a senior rabbi, noted. "By studying Torah, we shield the troops in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and Torah learning defend Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its security as its conventional forces. This conviction was accepted by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, he said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Rising Societal Anger

This religious sector has more than doubled its share of Israel's population over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exception for several hundred yeshiva attendees turned into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a group of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the conscription.

Opinion polls indicate support for drafting the Haredim is growing. A poll in July found that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - including a large segment in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported consequences for those who refused a draft order, with a solid consensus in supporting cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"It makes me feel there are people who are part of this country without contributing," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to fulfill your duty to your state," added a young woman. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from Inside the Community

Support for ending the exemption is also found among observant Jews beyond the Haredi community, like one local resident, who lives near the yeshiva and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Lines of faces {