🔗 Share this article

An impending political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is jeopardizing the governing coalition and fracturing the state.

The public mood on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now arguably the most explosive political risk facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Battle

Politicians are reviewing a draft bill to terminate the special status awarded to yeshiva scholars enrolled in Torah study, instituted when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the nation's top court two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to continue it were finally concluded by the bench last year, pressuring the cabinet to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

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

Tensions Boil Over Into Violence

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with elected officials now deliberating a new legislative proposal to compel ultra-Orthodox men into army duty in the same way as other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are furious with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were attacked by a sizeable mob of community members as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new messaging system called "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through Haredi neighborhoods and summon protesters to stop detentions from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said an activist. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish country. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Set Aside

Yet the transformations sweeping across Israel have not reached the confines of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students sit in pairs to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive writing books contrasting with the seats 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 leader of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the troops on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as vital to its defense as its advanced weaponry. That belief was endorsed by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Growing Societal Anger

This religious sector has more than doubled its percentage of the country's people over the since the state's founding, and now accounts for around one in seven. What began as an exception for several hundred Torah scholars turned into, by the start of the 2023 war, a group of tens of thousands of men exempt from the national service.

Surveys show approval of drafting the Haredim is increasing. A poll in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - including almost three-quarters in his own coalition allies - backed sanctions for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in supporting cutting state subsidies, passports, or the electoral participation.

"It seems to me there are citizens who live in this nation without serving," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your state," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Perspectives from Within a Religious City

Advocacy of extending the draft is also expressed by traditional Jews beyond the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the Torah and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

She manages a local tribute in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were fallen in war. Long columns of faces {