🔗 Share this article

A looming crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is jeopardizing the governing coalition and splitting the nation.

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

The Judicial Conflict

Politicians are currently considering a draft bill to abolish the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in yeshiva learning, created when the the nation was established in 1948.

This arrangement was struck down by the Supreme Court in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to continue it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, forcing the administration to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Strains Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with lawmakers now discussing a new draft bill to force Haredi males into national service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the proposed law.

In a recent incident, a specialized force had to extract enforcement personnel who were targeted by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have led to the development of a new messaging system named "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon protesters to stop detentions from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," stated Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Set Aside

But the changes blowing through Israel have not yet breached the confines of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars learn in partnerships to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured school notebooks standing out against the lines of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the head of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, explained. "Via dedicated learning, we shield the military personnel in the field. This is our army."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and religious study protect Israel's military, and are as essential to its defense as its advanced weaponry. That belief was accepted by the nation's leaders in the past, he said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has significantly increased its proportion of the nation's citizens over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exemption for several hundred religious students became, by the start of the Gaza war, a group of some 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Opinion polls indicate backing for ultra-Orthodox conscription is rising. Research in July found that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - even a large segment in his own coalition allies - backed penalties for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in favor of withdrawing benefits, the right to travel, or the electoral participation.

"I feel there are individuals who reside in this country without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your country," added a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from Inside the Community

Advocacy of extending the draft is also coming from religious Jews not part of the Haredi community, like one local resident, who resides close to the academy and points to observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

She maintains a small memorial in her city to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Lines of images {