🔗 Share this article

A gathering political storm over enlisting Haredi men into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine Israel's government and fracturing the country.

The public mood on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of hostilities, and this is now possibly the most volatile political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Conflict

Lawmakers are now debating a piece of legislation to terminate the deferment granted to ultra-Orthodox men engaged in yeshiva learning, established when the modern Israel was declared in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice two decades ago. Interim measures to continue it were officially terminated by the bench last year, pressuring the government to start enlisting the community.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to defense officials presented to lawmakers.

Friction Erupt Into Public View

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now debating a new legislative proposal to require Haredi males into national service together with other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with the legislative debate of the bill.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to extract enforcement personnel who were attacked by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new alert system called "Black Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and call out protesters to stop detentions from happening.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said one protester. "It's impossible to battle Judaism in a Jewish state. It doesn't work."

An Environment Apart

However the shifts blowing through Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students study together to discuss Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored school notebooks popping against the lines of formal attire and head coverings.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the seminary, the spiritual guide, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we protect the troops in the field. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that constant study and religious study defend Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its defense as its advanced weaponry. This conviction was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, the rabbi said, but he acknowledged that the nation is evolving.

Rising Societal Anger

The Haredi community has more than doubled its share of Israel's population over the past seven decades, and now accounts for 14%. What began as an exception for several hundred religious students became, by the onset of the recent conflict, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the draft.

Polling data indicate support for ending the exemption is rising. Research in July found that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - even almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - backed penalties for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a clear majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are citizens who live in this country without serving," one military member in Tel Aviv said.

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

Views from Within the Community

Backing for broadening conscription is also expressed by traditional Jews not part of the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the seminary and points to non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also engaging in religious study.

"I'm very angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I too follow the Torah, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it signifies the scripture and the defense together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

The resident runs a modest remembrance site in her city to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Long columns of images {