🔗 Share this article A Looming Crisis Approaches in Israel Over Ultra-Orthodox Military Draft Proposal The initiative to enlist more ultra-Orthodox men sparked a huge protest in Jerusalem in recent weeks. An impending political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is jeopardizing Israel's government and splitting the country. Popular sentiment on the matter has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now possibly the most explosive political risk facing the Prime Minister. The Legal Battle Lawmakers are currently considering a piece of legislation to end the deferment given to Haredi students dedicated to full-time religious study, established when the the nation was declared in 1948. That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in the early 2000s. Interim measures to continue it were formally ended by the court last year, forcing the government to begin drafting the community. Roughly 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to defense officials shared with lawmakers. A remembrance site for those killed in the October 7th attacks and subsequent war has been created at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv. Tensions Boil Over Into Violence Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with lawmakers now discussing a new draft bill to require ultra-Orthodox men into national service in the same way as other Jewish citizens. Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are incensed with the legislative debate of the proposed law. Recently, a elite police squad had to extract Military Police officers who were targeted by a big group of community members as they tried to arrest a alleged conscription dodger. Such incidents have led to the development of a new communication network named "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and call out protesters to prevent arrests from happening. "Israel is a Jewish nation," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish state. It doesn't work." A Realm Separate In a learning space at a religious seminary, young students learn the Torah and Talmud. Yet the transformations affecting Israel have not reached the confines of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv. Inside the classroom, scholars sit in pairs to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured writing books standing out against the lines of white shirts and traditional skullcaps. "Arrive late at night, and you will see many of the students are engaged in learning," the dean of the academy, the spiritual guide, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the soldiers wherever they are. This is how we contribute." Haredi Jews maintain that unceasing devotion and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its security as its conventional forces. That belief was acknowledged by the nation's leaders in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he conceded that Israel was changing. Growing Public Pressure The ultra-Orthodox population has significantly increased its proportion of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents 14%. A policy that originated as an deferment for a few hundred yeshiva attendees turned into, by the onset of the Gaza war, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men left out of the conscription. Polling data show support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. Research in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - backed consequences for those who declined a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the electoral participation. "I feel there are individuals who are part of this nation without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained. "It is my belief, regardless of piety, [it] should be an excuse not to perform service your state," said Gabby. "Being a native, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to exempt yourself just to engage in religious study all day." Voices from Within the Community A local woman maintains a memorial remembering soldiers from Bnei Brak who have been lost in past battles. Support for extending the draft is also found among observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who lives near the yeshiva and points to observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah. "I'm very angry that this community don't perform military service," she said. "It is unjust. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it means the scripture and the weapons together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace." She runs a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Lines of faces {