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A looming crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the governing coalition and splitting the state.

Public opinion on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel after two years of hostilities, and this is now arguably the most explosive political challenge facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Battle

Lawmakers are currently considering a draft bill to terminate the deferment granted to Haredi students engaged in yeshiva learning, instituted when the the nation was established in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were finally concluded by the court last year, pressuring the cabinet to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but only around 1,200 men from the community showed up, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Into Violence

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new draft bill to compel ultra-Orthodox men into national service together with other Jewish citizens.

Two Haredi politicians were targeted this month by radical elements, who are furious with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

Recently, a specialized force had to assist enforcement personnel who were targeted by a sizeable mob of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new communication network dubbed "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon activists to block enforcement from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. It is a contradiction."

An Environment Set Aside

But the shifts blowing through Israel have not reached the environment of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an religious community on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, teenage boys learn in partnerships to discuss the Torah, their distinctive notepads popping against the seats of white shirts and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the dean of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, noted. "Through religious study, we shield the soldiers on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

Haredi Jews maintain that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit guard Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its defense as its tanks and air force. This conviction was endorsed by previous governments in the past, he said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Rising Societal Anger

The Haredi community has significantly increased its percentage of the country's people over the past seven decades, and now represents around one in seven. A policy that originated as an exception for a few hundred yeshiva attendees turned into, by the start of the Gaza war, a body of tens of thousands of men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls show support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. A survey in July revealed that a large majority of non-Haredi Jews - including a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - favored sanctions for those who declined a draft order, with a solid consensus in supporting removing privileges, passports, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who reside in this country without giving anything back," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an justification not to go and serve your nation," added Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to exempt yourself just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Views from Inside a Religious City

Advocacy of extending the draft is also found among religious Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like one local resident, who is a neighbor of the seminary and notes non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't enlist," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

She maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were fallen in war. Rows of faces {