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A gathering political storm over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the administration and fracturing the nation.

Public opinion on the question has changed profoundly in Israel following two years of war, and this is now arguably the most volatile political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Judicial Battle

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to abolish the special status given to yeshiva scholars enrolled in full-time religious study, instituted when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

The deferment was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to extend it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, pressuring the cabinet to begin drafting the Haredi sector.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were sent out last year, but just approximately 1,200 men from the community enlisted, according to military testimony presented to lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now discussing a new conscription law to require yeshiva students into military service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are incensed with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

And last week, a specialized force had to extract enforcement personnel who were attacked by a big group of Haredi men as they attempted to detain a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new alert system dubbed "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through the religious sector and call out demonstrators to stop detentions from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said an activist. "You can't fight against the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

An Environment Separate

Yet the shifts blowing through Israel have not yet breached the walls of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students study together to analyze the Torah, their distinctive notepads standing out against the rows of white shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, the spiritual guide, said. "Through religious study, we safeguard the military personnel in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its military success as its conventional forces. That belief was endorsed by previous governments in the past, he said, but he conceded that Israel was changing.

Increasing Popular Demand

This religious sector has grown substantially its percentage of the nation's citizens over the past seven decades, and now accounts for around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exemption for a small number of Torah scholars became, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a group of approximately 60,000 men not subject to the national service.

Polling data show backing for drafting the Haredim is rising. A poll in July showed that 85% of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in his own coalition allies - supported consequences for those who declined a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in approving cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"I feel there are citizens who reside in this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an justification not to fulfill your duty to your state," said a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also found among observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who resides close to the yeshiva and points to observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Jewish law, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

She manages a modest remembrance site in her city to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {