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An impending political storm over drafting Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the country.

Public opinion on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of conflict, and this is now arguably the most divisive political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Conflict

Politicians are reviewing a proposal to terminate the special status given to ultra-Orthodox men dedicated to full-time religious study, created when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

This arrangement was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were officially terminated by the judiciary last year, compelling the administration to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but just approximately 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Friction Erupt Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new conscription law to compel ultra-Orthodox men into army duty together with other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the bill.

In a recent incident, a elite police squad had to extract Military Police officers who were surrounded by a big group of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new communication network called "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and call out demonstrators to prevent arrests from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated an activist. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

A World Separate

But the transformations sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the confines of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, scholars sit in pairs to analyze the Torah, their distinctive writing books contrasting with the rows of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the head of the academy, the spiritual guide, noted. "Through religious study, we shield the troops in the field. This is our army."

The community holds that continuous prayer and religious study defend Israel's soldiers, and are as vital to its defense as its tanks and air force. This conviction was accepted by the nation's leaders in the past, he said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Increasing Public Pressure

This religious sector has more than doubled its proportion of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now constitutes a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exemption for a few hundred religious students turned into, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a body of approximately 60,000 men left out of the conscription.

Surveys show backing for ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A survey in July revealed that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - supported penalties for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in supporting withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are people who reside in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to perform service your nation," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Voices from the Heart of the Community

Support for ending the exemption is also coming from religious Jews not part of the Haredi community, like one local resident, who lives near the yeshiva and notes religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I am frustrated that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

The resident runs a modest remembrance site in her city to fallen servicemen, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Lines of photographs {