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A looming crisis over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the administration and fracturing the country.

Public opinion on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of war, and this is now arguably the most volatile political challenge facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Struggle

Legislators are currently considering a proposal to abolish the exemption given to Haredi students engaged in Torah study, instituted when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

This arrangement was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to extend it were formally ended by the court last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Tensions Boil Over Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with elected officials now discussing a new draft bill to force yeshiva students into army duty together with other Jewish citizens.

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

In a recent incident, a specialized force had to rescue enforcement personnel who were surrounded by a big group of Haredi men as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new communication network named "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from taking place.

"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."

A Realm Separate

Yet the changes sweeping across Israel have not reached the confines of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, young students study together to analyze Jewish law, their distinctive school notebooks contrasting with the rows of white shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are pursuing religious study," the dean of the yeshiva, the spiritual guide, explained. "By studying Torah, we shield the soldiers in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its security as its tanks and air force. This conviction was accepted by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, the rabbi said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has more than doubled its percentage of Israel's population over the past seven decades, and now represents a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exemption for a few hundred yeshiva attendees evolved into, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a cohort of tens of thousands of men not subject to the draft.

Polling data suggest support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. Research in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - even almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - supported sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a firm majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, passports, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are individuals who are part of this nation without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your country," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of a Religious City

Advocacy of extending the draft is also found among religious Jews not part of the ultra-Orthodox sector, like Dorit Barak, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes religious Zionists who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that this community don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the scripture and the weapons together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak runs a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to soldiers from the area, both from all backgrounds, who were fallen in war. Rows of photographs {