🔗 Share this article

An impending political storm over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the governing coalition and fracturing the state.

The public mood on the matter has undergone a sea change in Israel after two years of conflict, and this is now arguably the most volatile political challenge facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Battle

Lawmakers are reviewing a proposal to end the deferment granted to yeshiva scholars enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the modern Israel was declared in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Interim measures to extend it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, pressuring the government to start enlisting the community.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with parliamentarians now discussing a new legislative proposal to force yeshiva students into military service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were confronted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

In a recent incident, a elite police squad had to extract Military Police officers who were targeted by a big group of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new messaging system called "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and summon activists to prevent arrests from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated one protester. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

A Realm Apart

But the changes sweeping across Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars learn in partnerships to debate Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive notepads standing out against the lines of white shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are pursuing religious study," the head of the seminary, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "By studying Torah, we shield the military personnel in the field. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that constant study and religious study guard Israel's military, and are as crucial to its military success as its tanks and air force. That belief was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the past, he said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Popular Demand

The Haredi community has significantly increased its proportion of the nation's citizens over the past seven decades, and now represents 14%. What began as an deferment for a small number of yeshiva attendees turned into, by the start of the 2023 war, a body of tens of thousands of men exempt from the national service.

Surveys suggest backing for ending the exemption is increasing. Research in July revealed that 85% of the broader Jewish public - even a large segment in his own coalition allies - supported consequences for those who declined a call-up notice, with a solid consensus in approving cutting state subsidies, passports, or the electoral participation.

"I feel there are people who live in this country without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your state," said a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Views from Within a Religious City

Backing for ending the exemption is also found among traditional Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who resides close to the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"I am frustrated that this community don't enlist," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the Torah and the weapons together. That's the way forward, until the messianic era."

She maintains a local tribute in the neighborhood to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Lines of faces {