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A gathering crisis over drafting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is jeopardizing the governing coalition and splitting the nation.

Popular sentiment on the issue has changed profoundly in Israel in the wake of two years of war, and this is now possibly the most volatile political challenge facing Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Struggle

Lawmakers are now debating a proposal to abolish the exemption awarded to ultra-Orthodox men enrolled in full-time religious study, created when the State of Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was struck down by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Stopgap solutions to continue it were formally ended by the judiciary last year, forcing the government to commence conscription of the ultra-Orthodox population.

Approximately 24,000 call-up papers were issued last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees reported for duty, according to defense officials shared with lawmakers.

Strains Erupt Into Violence

Strains are boiling over onto the public squares, with parliamentarians now discussing a new conscription law to require ultra-Orthodox men into army duty alongside other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were harassed this month by radical elements, who are incensed with the Knesset's deliberations of the proposed law.

Recently, a special Border Police unit had to rescue army police who were surrounded by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

These enforcement actions have sparked the creation of a new communication network called "Emergency Alert" to send out instant alerts through ultra-Orthodox communities and summon activists to prevent arrests from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said Shmuel Orbach. "It's impossible to battle the Jewish faith in a nation founded on Jewish identity. It doesn't work."

A World Set Aside

However the changes blowing through Israel have not yet breached the walls of the Kisse Rahamim yeshiva in Bnei Brak, an ultra-Orthodox city on the fringes of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, young students learn in partnerships to analyze Judaism's religious laws, their brightly coloured writing books standing out against the rows of light-colored shirts and small black kippahs.

"Visit in the early hours, and you will see half the guys are engaged in learning," the dean of the seminary, the spiritual guide, explained. "By studying Torah, we protect the troops wherever they are. This is how we contribute."

Haredi Jews maintain that unceasing devotion and religious study protect Israel's military, and are as crucial to its defense as its tanks and air force. This tenet was accepted by previous governments in the earlier decades, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he admitted that public attitudes are shifting.

Rising Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its share of Israel's population over the past seven decades, and now constitutes a sizable minority. What began as an exception for a small number of yeshiva attendees became, by the start of the recent conflict, a body of approximately 60,000 men exempt from the national service.

Surveys indicate backing for ultra-Orthodox conscription is growing. A poll in July found that an overwhelming percentage of non-Haredi Jews - even almost three-quarters in the Prime Minister's political base - backed sanctions for those who refused a draft order, with a solid consensus in supporting removing privileges, the right to travel, or the franchise.

"I feel there are individuals who are part of this country without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to go and serve your nation," said a young woman. "If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to avoid service just to learn in a yeshiva all day."

Views from the Heart of the Community

Support for broadening conscription is also found among observant Jews not part of the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who lives near the yeshiva and notes religious Zionists who do enlist in the army while also studying Torah.

"I'm very angry that this community don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I am also committed to the Torah, but there's a proverb in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it represents the Torah and the defense together. That is the path, until the arrival of peace."

The resident runs a local tribute in her city to local soldiers, both from all backgrounds, who were killed in battle. Lines of faces {