🔗 Share this article

A looming crisis over enlisting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is posing a risk to the administration and dividing the country.

Public opinion on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most divisive political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Struggle

Lawmakers are now debating a draft bill to terminate the deferment given to yeshiva scholars enrolled in yeshiva learning, established when the the nation was declared in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the nation's top court two decades ago. Stopgap solutions to extend it were finally concluded by the court last year, pressuring the administration to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Strains Boil Over Into Public View

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with parliamentarians now deliberating a new conscription law to require yeshiva students into army duty alongside other Jewish citizens.

Two representatives were targeted this month by hardline activists, who are incensed with parliament's discussion of the bill.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These arrests have prompted the establishment of a new communication network named "Dark Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through ultra-Orthodox communities and call out protesters to stop detentions from taking place.

"This is a Jewish state," said an activist. "You can't fight against religious practice in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It is a contradiction."

A Realm Apart

Yet the changes blowing through Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in a Haredi stronghold, an religious community on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, teenage boys sit in pairs to analyze Jewish law, their vividly colored notepads standing out against the seats of formal attire and small black kippahs.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see many of the students are studying Torah," the dean of the seminary, the spiritual guide, said. "By studying Torah, we shield the troops in the field. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that constant study and spiritual pursuit protect Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its defense as its tanks and air force. This tenet was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that public attitudes are shifting.

Growing Societal Anger

The Haredi community has more than doubled its proportion of Israel's population over the past seven decades, and now constitutes a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an deferment for a small number of yeshiva attendees turned into, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a group of tens of thousands of men exempt from the draft.

Opinion polls suggest support for ultra-Orthodox conscription is increasing. Research in July found that a large majority of secular and traditional Jews - including a large segment in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - backed sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a clear majority in approving withdrawing benefits, passports, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are citizens who are part of this country without contributing," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your country," stated a Tel Aviv resident. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to engage in religious study all day."

Views from the Heart of the Community

Backing for broadening conscription is also expressed by religious Jews outside the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who resides close to the yeshiva and points to non-Haredi religious Jews who do perform national service while also studying Torah.

"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 teaching in Hebrew - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the weapons together. That is the path, until the messianic era."

She maintains a small memorial in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both observant and non-observant, who were killed in battle. Long columns of faces {