🔗 Share this article

An impending political storm over conscripting Haredi men into the military is jeopardizing Israel's government and dividing the nation.

Popular sentiment on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel following two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political challenge facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Struggle

Lawmakers are reviewing a piece of legislation to terminate the deferment granted to Haredi students engaged in full-time religious study, created when the State of Israel was declared in 1948.

That exemption was struck down by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Interim measures to maintain it were officially terminated by the judiciary last year, compelling the cabinet to start enlisting the community.

Approximately 24,000 enlistment orders were sent out last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with parliamentarians now discussing a new conscription law to compel ultra-Orthodox men into army duty alongside other Israeli Jews.

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

And last week, a specialized force had to assist Military Police officers who were attacked by a big group of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new alert system dubbed "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and mobilize activists to prevent arrests from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked one protester. "It's impossible to battle religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. That is untenable."

An Environment Set Aside

However the transformations sweeping across Israel have not reached the walls of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students study together to discuss the Torah, their vividly colored writing books contrasting with the rows of light-colored shirts and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the seminary, a senior rabbi, explained. "Through religious study, we protect the military personnel in the field. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that continuous prayer and religious study guard Israel's military, and are as crucial to its defense as its conventional forces. This conviction was acknowledged by previous governments in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

This religious sector has more than doubled its proportion of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now accounts for around one in seven. An exemption that started as an deferment for a few hundred yeshiva attendees turned into, by the onset of the 2023 war, a body of tens of thousands of men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls suggest backing for drafting the Haredim is growing. A survey in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of secular and traditional Jews - including a large segment in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored penalties for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in approving removing privileges, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"I feel there are individuals who reside in this nation without contributing," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv said.

"It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to go and serve your state," added Gabby. "Being a native, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from Inside a Religious City

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also expressed by traditional Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who resides close to the yeshiva and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also maintaining their faith.

"I am frustrated that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the scripture and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

The resident runs a local tribute in her city to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Lines of faces {