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An impending crisis over enlisting Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces is threatening to undermine the governing coalition and fracturing the nation.

Popular sentiment on the matter has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political issue facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Legal Conflict

Legislators are now debating a piece of legislation to terminate the exemption awarded to Haredi students enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the State of Israel was declared in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the nation's top court two decades ago. Stopgap solutions to maintain it were finally concluded by the bench last year, compelling the administration to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Into Violence

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with lawmakers now deliberating a new legislative proposal to compel yeshiva students into military service in the same way as other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to extract army police who were surrounded by a sizeable mob of community members as they attempted to detain a suspected draft-evader.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system called "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize demonstrators to block enforcement from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

An Environment Apart

But the changes blowing through Israel have not reached the confines of the religious seminary in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys study together to analyze Jewish law, their brightly coloured writing books popping against the seats of light-colored shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the yeshiva, the spiritual guide, noted. "Through religious study, we protect the troops wherever they are. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that unceasing devotion and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's military, and are as crucial to its defense as its conventional forces. This tenet was accepted by previous governments in the past, the rabbi said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Increasing Societal Anger

This religious sector has significantly increased its percentage of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now accounts for 14%. What began as an exemption for a few hundred religious students evolved into, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a cohort of some 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Polling data show approval of ending the exemption is increasing. Research in July showed that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored consequences for those who ignored a enlistment summons, with a solid consensus in favor of cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are individuals who are part of this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to fulfill your duty to your nation," stated Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Perspectives from Inside the Community

Backing for broadening conscription is also found among religious Jews beyond the Haredi community, like one local resident, who is a neighbor of the seminary and points to religious Zionists who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the Torah and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

She maintains a small memorial in her city to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were killed in battle. Rows of photographs {