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A looming crisis over enlisting Haredi men into the military is jeopardizing the administration and splitting the nation.

Popular sentiment on the question has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political challenge facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Conflict

Politicians are reviewing a draft bill to end the deferment given to yeshiva scholars engaged in full-time religious study, created when the State of Israel was founded in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to continue it were finally concluded by the court last year, pressuring the cabinet to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Some 24,000 draft notices were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 men from the community reported for duty, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with lawmakers now debating a new legislative proposal to compel ultra-Orthodox men into military service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

Two representatives were confronted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the bill.

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to extract enforcement personnel who were targeted by a sizeable mob of community members as they attempted to detain a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new communication network called "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon demonstrators to stop detentions from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked one protester. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a nation founded on Jewish identity. That is untenable."

An Environment Separate

But the shifts sweeping across Israel have not yet breached the confines of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students sit in pairs to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored writing books standing out against the lines of white shirts and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the head of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Through religious study, we shield the military personnel in the field. This constitutes our service."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and Torah learning protect Israel's soldiers, and are as essential to its security as its advanced weaponry. That belief was accepted by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Societal Anger

This religious sector has grown substantially its share of the country's people over the last seventy years, and now accounts for 14%. An exemption that started as an exception for a small number of Torah scholars became, by the onset of the Gaza war, a body of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the conscription.

Polling data indicate approval of ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. A survey in July found that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - including a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - supported consequences for those who declined a draft order, with a clear majority in approving cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are people who live in this nation without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your state," added Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to study Torah all day."

Voices from Inside a Religious City

Backing for ending the exemption is also found among traditional Jews not part of the Haredi community, like one local resident, who resides close to the seminary and points to religious Zionists who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"I am frustrated that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

She maintains a small memorial in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Rows of photographs {