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A gathering political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the administration and dividing the state.

Public opinion on the matter has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Battle

Legislators are reviewing a piece of legislation to end the exemption given to yeshiva scholars dedicated to yeshiva learning, instituted when the the nation was declared in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the nation's top court two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to maintain it were finally concluded by the bench last year, forcing the cabinet to commence conscription of the community.

Roughly 24,000 enlistment orders were issued last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Tensions Erupt Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with elected officials now debating a new conscription law to require yeshiva students into military service in the same way as other Jewish citizens.

A pair of ultra-Orthodox lawmakers were targeted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are furious with the legislative debate of the proposed law.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to assist army police who were attacked by a sizeable mob of community members as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new alert system called "Dark Alert" to spread word quickly through the religious sector and mobilize activists to prevent arrests from taking place.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," stated one protester. "One cannot oppose the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

A World Apart

Yet the changes sweeping across Israel have failed to penetrate the walls of the religious seminary in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, young students learn in partnerships to debate the Torah, their brightly coloured school notebooks contrasting with the seats of white shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see half the guys are studying Torah," the head of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, explained. "Through religious study, we safeguard the military personnel on the front lines. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and Torah learning guard Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its military success as its tanks and air force. This tenet was endorsed by Israel's politicians in the earlier decades, the rabbi said, but he conceded that the nation is evolving.

Growing Public Pressure

The Haredi community has significantly increased its percentage of the nation's citizens over the past seven decades, and now represents around one in seven. What began as an exception for a few hundred Torah scholars became, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a body of tens of thousands of men exempt from the conscription.

Surveys indicate support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. A survey in July revealed that 85% of secular and traditional Jews - encompassing a large segment in his own coalition allies - supported sanctions for those who declined a draft order, with a solid consensus in supporting withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the franchise.

"I feel there are individuals who reside in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"In my view, regardless of piety, [it] should be an justification not to perform service your country," said a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Voices from Inside a Religious City

Support for ending the exemption is also found among religious Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the academy and highlights non-Haredi religious Jews who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"I am frustrated that this community don't serve in the army," she said. "It's unfair. I too follow the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the weapons together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

She manages a small memorial in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were killed in battle. Lines of images {