A Looming Crisis Threatens in Israel Over Haredi Conscription Proposal

An impending crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military is threatening to undermine the administration and dividing the country.

Popular sentiment on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel after two years of hostilities, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political risk facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Battle

Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to abolish the exemption given to ultra-Orthodox men engaged in Torah study, instituted when the the nation was founded in 1948.

The deferment was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court almost 20 years ago. Temporary arrangements to extend it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, pressuring the government to begin drafting the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but only around 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees enlisted, according to military testimony shared with lawmakers.

Friction Spill Onto the Streets

Tensions are erupting onto the public squares, with lawmakers now discussing a new legislative proposal to force Haredi males into national service together with other Israeli Jews.

Two representatives were confronted this month by radical elements, who are enraged with the Knesset's deliberations of the proposed law.

And last week, a elite police squad had to extract army police who were surrounded by a large crowd of Haredi men as they sought to apprehend a suspected draft-evader.

These arrests have sparked the creation of a new communication network dubbed "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon activists to block enforcement from taking place.

"We're a Jewish country," remarked one protester. "It's impossible to battle the Jewish faith in a Jewish country. That is untenable."

An Environment Separate

But the shifts blowing through Israel have not reached the confines of the Torah academy in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Within the study hall, teenage boys study together to discuss Jewish law, their brightly coloured writing books standing out against the seats of white shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see a significant portion are studying Torah," the leader of the academy, the spiritual guide, noted. "Through religious study, we safeguard the soldiers in the field. This is our army."

Ultra-Orthodox believe that continuous prayer and Torah learning guard Israel's armed forces, and are as essential to its security as its conventional forces. This tenet was accepted by Israel's politicians in the previous eras, he said, but he admitted that Israel was changing.

Increasing Societal Anger

This religious sector has more than doubled its percentage of the nation's citizens over the last seventy years, and now accounts for 14%. What began as an exception for several hundred Torah scholars evolved into, by the beginning of the Gaza war, a cohort of tens of thousands of men not subject to the conscription.

Opinion polls suggest backing for ending the exemption is growing. Research in July showed that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - encompassing a significant majority in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - favored consequences for those who ignored a call-up notice, with a firm majority in favor of withdrawing benefits, travel documents, or the franchise.

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

"In my view, no matter how devout, [it] should be an justification not to fulfill your duty to your country," stated Gabby. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to study Torah all day."

Views from the Heart of a Religious City

Support for extending the draft is also expressed by traditional Jews beyond the ultra-Orthodox sector, like a Bnei Brak inhabitant, who is a neighbor of the yeshiva and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also engaging in religious study.

"It makes me angry that the Haredim don't serve in the army," she said. "It is unjust. I also believe in the Torah, but there's a saying in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the defense together. This is the correct approach, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak runs a local tribute in the neighborhood to fallen servicemen, both from all backgrounds, who were lost in conflict. Rows of images {