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An impending political storm over drafting Haredi men into the military is threatening to undermine Israel's government and splitting the state.

The public mood on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most divisive political issue facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Conflict

Lawmakers are reviewing a draft bill to end the special status awarded to Haredi students dedicated to Torah study, established when the the nation was founded in 1948.

That exemption was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Interim measures to extend it were finally concluded by the judiciary last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the community.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts enlisted, according to military testimony presented to lawmakers.

Friction Erupt Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with lawmakers now discussing a new conscription law to force Haredi males into military service alongside other Israeli Jews.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were targeted this month by radical elements, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the proposed law.

And last week, a specialized force had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they tried to arrest a man avoiding service.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new communication network named "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon demonstrators to stop detentions from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," stated Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

A Realm Separate

But the transformations blowing through Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the edge of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students study together to debate Jewish law, their vividly colored notepads standing out against the rows of white shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the leader of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, explained. "Through religious study, we safeguard the troops in the field. This is our army."

Haredi Jews maintain that unceasing devotion and religious study guard Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its defense as its tanks and air force. This tenet was accepted by previous governments in the previous eras, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Societal Anger

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its percentage of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now constitutes a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an exemption for several hundred religious students turned into, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a body of tens of thousands of men exempt from the national service.

Surveys show support for ending the exemption is increasing. A poll in July found that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - even almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - favored penalties for those who ignored a draft order, with a firm majority in approving withdrawing benefits, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"It seems to me there are people who reside in this nation without serving," one military member in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your state," stated a young woman. "As a citizen by birth, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to study Torah all day."

Perspectives from Inside Bnei Brak

Support for ending the exemption is also found among religious Jews beyond the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the seminary and highlights religious Zionists who do perform national service while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the defense together. That is the path, until the days of peace."

The resident maintains a modest remembrance site in Bnei Brak to soldiers from the area, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {