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An impending crisis over enlisting Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces is jeopardizing the administration and fracturing the country.

Public opinion on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel following two years of conflict, and this is now perhaps the most volatile political risk facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Constitutional Battle

Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to abolish the special status granted to ultra-Orthodox men engaged in full-time religious study, instituted when the modern Israel was founded in 1948.

That exemption was ruled illegal by the Supreme Court two decades ago. Temporary arrangements to extend it were finally concluded by the bench last year, pressuring the government to start enlisting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Roughly 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 Haredi conscripts showed up, according to army data given to lawmakers.

Friction Spill Onto the Streets

Friction is spilling onto the public squares, with elected officials now deliberating a new conscription law to require yeshiva students into national service in the same way as other Israeli Jews.

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

In a recent incident, a special Border Police unit had to extract Military Police officers who were attacked by a sizeable mob of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a man avoiding service.

These enforcement actions have prompted the establishment of a new communication network called "Black Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon demonstrators to prevent arrests from occurring.

"We're a Jewish country," remarked one protester. "You can't fight against Judaism in a Jewish state. That is untenable."

An Environment Separate

However the shifts blowing through Israel have not yet breached the confines of the Torah academy in an ultra-Orthodox city, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars learn in partnerships to discuss Judaism's religious laws, their vividly colored school notebooks popping against the lines of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the head of the academy, Rabbi Tzemach Mazuz, noted. "Via dedicated learning, we safeguard the military personnel on the front lines. This is how we contribute."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and religious study guard Israel's soldiers, and are as crucial to its defense as its conventional forces. That belief was accepted by the nation's leaders in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Growing Popular Demand

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its share of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now accounts for 14%. An exemption that started 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 not subject to the draft.

Polling data suggest support for drafting the Haredim is increasing. A survey in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - encompassing a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored sanctions for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a firm majority in favor of cutting state subsidies, the right to travel, or the right to vote.

"It seems to me there are individuals who live in this country without serving," one serviceman in Tel Aviv commented.

"I don't think, no matter how devout, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your country," said Gabby. "As a citizen by birth, I find it rather absurd that you want to avoid service just to study Torah all day."

Voices from Within a Religious City

Support for ending the exemption is also coming from observant Jews outside the Haredi community, like one local resident, who lives near the academy 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 am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the scripture and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak manages a local tribute in her city to local soldiers, both observant and non-observant, who were fallen in war. Rows of images {