🔗 Share this article

A gathering crisis over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is jeopardizing the administration and splitting the state.

Public opinion on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel in the wake of two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political challenge facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Struggle

Politicians are reviewing a proposal to end the deferment given to Haredi students engaged in yeshiva learning, created when the the nation was declared in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the nation's top court two decades ago. Interim measures to maintain it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, forcing the cabinet to commence conscription of the community.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts reported for duty, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with elected officials now debating a new draft bill to compel ultra-Orthodox men into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

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

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to assist enforcement personnel who were surrounded by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have led to the development of a new alert system dubbed "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and mobilize protesters to prevent arrests from happening.

"This is a Jewish state," remarked one protester. "You can't fight against the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

A Realm Separate

But the changes affecting Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, teenage boys learn in partnerships to debate Jewish law, their brightly coloured notepads standing out against the seats of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the head of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, said. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the soldiers wherever they are. This is our army."

The community holds that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its military success as its tanks and air force. This conviction was endorsed by the nation's leaders in the previous eras, he said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has more than doubled its percentage of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now constitutes around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exemption for a small number of religious students became, by the start of the Gaza war, a body of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Polling data indicate backing for drafting the Haredim is rising. Research in July found that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - including a significant majority in the Prime Minister's political base - supported penalties for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the franchise.

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

"It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to fulfill your duty to your state," added a Tel Aviv resident. "As a citizen by birth, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day."

Perspectives from Inside Bnei Brak

Advocacy of broadening conscription is also coming from observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who lives near the academy and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do perform national service while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I too follow the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the guns together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

She manages a local tribute in her city to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Rows of faces {