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A gathering crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the administration and splitting the nation.

Public opinion on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political issue facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Conflict

Politicians are currently considering a piece of legislation to abolish the deferment granted to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the the nation was declared in 1948.

This arrangement was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Stopgap solutions to continue it were formally ended by the bench last year, forcing the administration to begin drafting the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to army data shared with lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with elected officials now discussing a new conscription law to force Haredi males into national service alongside other Jewish citizens.

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

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were targeted by a sizeable mob of community members as they tried to arrest a suspected draft-evader.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new messaging system named "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and mobilize activists to prevent arrests from occurring.

"This is a Jewish state," stated Shmuel Orbach. "One cannot oppose religious practice in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

A World Apart

Yet the transformations affecting Israel have not yet breached the environment of the Torah academy in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, scholars study together to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their distinctive writing books contrasting with the lines of formal attire and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the head of the seminary, a senior rabbi, explained. "By studying Torah, we shield the soldiers in the field. This is how we contribute."

The community holds that continuous prayer and religious study protect Israel's military, and are as vital to its defense as its conventional forces. That belief was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the past, the rabbi said, but he conceded that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has grown substantially its percentage of the nation's citizens over the past seven decades, and now constitutes a sizable minority. What began as an exemption for a small number of Torah scholars evolved into, by the onset of the Gaza war, a body of tens of thousands of men left out of the conscription.

Surveys show approval of ending the exemption is increasing. Research in July showed that 85% of the broader Jewish public - including a large segment in the Prime Minister's political base - backed consequences for those who refused a enlistment summons, with a firm majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, passports, or the electoral participation.

"It makes me feel there are people who reside in this country without giving anything back," one serviceman in Tel Aviv explained.

"It is my belief, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your state," stated 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."

Voices from Within Bnei Brak

Support for broadening conscription is also expressed by traditional Jews not part of the Haredi community, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the seminary and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that this community don't perform military service," she said. "It is unjust. I too follow the Torah, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the weapons together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

She runs a local tribute in her city to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were killed in battle. Lines of photographs {