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A gathering political storm over enlisting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine Israel's government and fracturing the state.

Public opinion on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of war, and this is now arguably the most volatile political risk facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Battle

Lawmakers are now debating a piece of legislation to terminate the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men dedicated to full-time religious study, established when the modern Israel was declared in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to extend it were formally ended by the bench last year, pressuring the cabinet to begin drafting the community.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with parliamentarians now discussing a new conscription law to force yeshiva students into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

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

Recently, a elite police squad had to assist army police who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of community members as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system named "Black Alert" to send out instant alerts through Haredi neighborhoods and call out protesters to block enforcement from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked an activist. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

A Realm Set Aside

But the shifts sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive writing books popping against the lines of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are pursuing religious study," the head of the yeshiva, the spiritual guide, said. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the troops wherever they are. This is our army."

The community holds that unceasing devotion and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its security as its conventional forces. That belief was endorsed by previous governments in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its percentage of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exemption for a few hundred religious students became, by the onset of the 2023 war, a body of some 60,000 men not subject to the national service.

Opinion polls indicate support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. Research in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - including almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed penalties for those who declined a call-up notice, with a solid consensus in favor of removing privileges, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who reside in this nation without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your country," added Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also expressed by religious Jews outside the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the messianic era."

She maintains a small memorial in her city to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were fallen in war. Lines of faces {