A Major Crisis Threatens in Israel Over Ultra-Orthodox Conscription Bill

An impending political storm over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army is threatening to undermine Israel's government and dividing the nation.

The public mood on the issue has undergone a sea change in Israel in the wake of two years of hostilities, and this is now arguably the most volatile political challenge facing the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Battle

Legislators are now debating a proposal to abolish the deferment granted to Haredi students dedicated to Torah study, instituted when the modern Israel was established in 1948.

This arrangement was ruled illegal by the nation's top court in the early 2000s. Interim measures to maintain it were formally ended by the bench last year, compelling the administration to commence conscription of the Haredi sector.

Roughly 24,000 draft notices were delivered last year, but just approximately 1,200 ultra-Orthodox - or Haredi - draftees showed up, according to defense officials shared with lawmakers.

Friction Boil Over Onto the Streets

Strains are boiling over onto the streets, with elected officials now deliberating a new conscription law to force yeshiva students into national service together with other Israeli Jews.

Two Haredi politicians were confronted this month by some extreme ultra-Orthodox protesters, who are enraged with parliament's discussion of the draft legislation.

In a recent incident, a elite police squad had to assist enforcement personnel who were attacked by a big group of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they attempted to detain a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have led to the development of a new alert system called "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through ultra-Orthodox communities and mobilize protesters to stop detentions from occurring.

"Israel is a Jewish nation," said an activist. "One cannot oppose Judaism in a Jewish country. It is a contradiction."

An Environment Set Aside

But the transformations sweeping across Israel have failed to penetrate the walls of the religious seminary in a Haredi stronghold, an Haredi enclave on the edge of Tel Aviv.

Inside the classroom, scholars study together to analyze the Torah, their brightly coloured notepads standing out against the seats of white shirts and head coverings.

"Come at one in the morning, and you will see a significant portion are pursuing religious study," the head of the yeshiva, a senior rabbi, noted. "By studying Torah, we safeguard the troops in the field. This is our army."

The community holds that continuous prayer and spiritual pursuit defend Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its security as its tanks and air force. That belief was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the past, Rabbi Mazuz said, but he acknowledged that Israel was changing.

Increasing Public Pressure

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its proportion of Israel's population over the last seventy years, and now constitutes around one in seven. An exemption that started as an exception for a few hundred religious students became, by the start of the 2023 war, a cohort of tens of thousands of men exempt from the draft.

Opinion polls indicate backing for ending the exemption is rising. A survey in July revealed that a large majority of secular and traditional Jews - even almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported sanctions for those who ignored a draft order, with a solid consensus in favor of cutting state subsidies, travel documents, or the right to vote.

"It makes me feel there are people who live in this country without giving anything back," one military member in Tel Aviv explained.

"In my view, however religious you are, [it] should be an excuse not to go and serve your nation," added 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 Bnei Brak

Backing for extending the draft is also found among religious Jews beyond the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who is a neighbor of the academy and highlights observant but non-Haredi Jews who do serve in the military while also maintaining their faith.

"I'm very angry that the Haredim don't perform military service," she said. "It's unfair. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a teaching in Jewish tradition - 'The Book and the Sword' – it signifies the Torah and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the arrival of peace."

Ms Barak runs a small memorial in her city to local soldiers, both religious and secular, who were lost in conflict. Lines of photographs {