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A gathering crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israel Defense Forces is jeopardizing Israel's government and splitting the country.

Popular sentiment on the issue has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most divisive political issue facing the Prime Minister.

The Legal Conflict

Politicians are reviewing a draft bill to end the exemption awarded to Haredi students enrolled in full-time religious study, instituted when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was declared unconstitutional by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to continue it were finally concluded by the judiciary last year, pressuring the government to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Public View

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with lawmakers now deliberating a new draft bill to require Haredi males into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are furious with parliament's discussion of the proposed law.

Recently, a specialized force had to extract army police who were surrounded by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new messaging system dubbed "Emergency Alert" to rapidly disseminate information through Haredi neighborhoods and call out demonstrators to block enforcement from taking place.

"This is a Jewish state," stated an activist. "You can't fight against the Jewish faith in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

An Environment Apart

Yet the transformations blowing through Israel have not reached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars learn in partnerships to debate the Torah, their brightly coloured school notebooks contrasting with the rows of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are engaged in learning," the leader of the yeshiva, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, said. "Through religious study, we shield the troops on the front lines. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that constant study and Torah learning protect Israel's soldiers, and are as vital to its military success as its advanced weaponry. This tenet was accepted by previous governments in the previous eras, he said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Rising Public Pressure

This religious sector has grown substantially its proportion of the nation's citizens over the since the state's founding, and now constitutes a sizable minority. A policy that originated as an deferment for a few hundred yeshiva attendees became, by the beginning of the recent conflict, a cohort of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the draft.

Surveys show backing for drafting the Haredim is rising. A poll in July found that a large majority of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a significant majority in his own coalition allies - backed penalties for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a firm majority in approving cutting state subsidies, passports, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who reside in this nation without giving anything back," one off-duty soldier in Tel Aviv said.

"It is my belief, no matter how devout, [it] should be an justification not to go and serve your nation," said Gabby. "If you're born here, I find it somewhat unreasonable that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Voices from Inside a Religious City

Advocacy of ending the exemption is also expressed by observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like one local resident, who resides close to the seminary and notes observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't perform military service," she said. "This creates inequality. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a proverb in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the scripture and the weapons together. This is the correct approach, until the arrival of peace."

The resident maintains a local tribute in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both observant and non-observant, who were lost in conflict. Rows of faces {