🔗 Share this article

A looming crisis over conscripting Haredi men into the Israel Defense Forces is jeopardizing the governing coalition and dividing the country.

Public opinion on the question has shifted dramatically in Israel after two years of war, and this is now perhaps the most explosive political issue facing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The Judicial Conflict

Lawmakers are reviewing a piece of legislation to abolish the special status given to yeshiva scholars dedicated to Torah study, established when the modern Israel was declared in 1948.

The deferment was ruled illegal by Israel's High Court of Justice in the early 2000s. Interim measures to extend it were formally ended by the bench last year, compelling the administration to start enlisting the Haredi sector.

Some 24,000 call-up papers were delivered last year, but merely about 1,200 men from the community reported for duty, according to defense officials given to lawmakers.

Tensions Spill Into Violence

Tensions are erupting onto the city centers, with elected officials now debating a new legislative proposal to require Haredi males into army duty together with other secular Israelis.

Two representatives were harassed this month by hardline activists, who are furious with the Knesset's deliberations of the bill.

And last week, a special Border Police unit had to assist Military Police officers who were targeted by a large crowd of ultra-Orthodox protesters as they sought to apprehend a alleged conscription dodger.

Such incidents have prompted the establishment of a new communication network named "Emergency Alert" to spread word quickly through Haredi neighborhoods and summon activists to prevent arrests from happening.

"We're a Jewish country," remarked Shmuel Orbach. "You can't fight against religious practice in a Jewish country. It doesn't work."

An Environment Apart

Yet the shifts affecting Israel have failed to penetrate the environment of the religious seminary in an ultra-Orthodox city, an Haredi enclave on the outskirts of Tel Aviv.

In the learning space, teenage boys study together to analyze Jewish law, their vividly colored writing books popping against the lines of formal attire and traditional skullcaps.

"Arrive late at night, and you will see half the guys are pursuing religious study," the head of the seminary, the spiritual guide, said. "By studying Torah, we shield the troops wherever they are. This constitutes our service."

The community holds that constant study and Torah learning defend Israel's armed forces, and are as crucial to its military success as its advanced weaponry. This conviction was acknowledged by Israel's politicians in the past, the rabbi said, but he admitted that the nation is evolving.

Increasing Societal Anger

The ultra-Orthodox population has grown substantially its percentage of the nation's citizens over the past seven decades, and now accounts for a sizable minority. An exemption that started as an exception for a few hundred Torah scholars turned into, by the beginning of the 2023 war, a cohort of some 60,000 men left out of the draft.

Surveys suggest support for drafting the Haredim is rising. A poll in July revealed that an overwhelming percentage of the broader Jewish public - including almost three-quarters in Netanyahu's own right-wing Likud party - supported sanctions for those who refused a call-up notice, with a firm majority in supporting withdrawing benefits, passports, or the franchise.

"It makes me feel there are individuals who reside in this country without contributing," one military member in Tel Aviv said.

"I don't think, however religious you are, [it] should be an reason not to perform service your nation," added a young woman. "Being a native, I find it quite ridiculous that you want to opt out just to engage in religious study all day."

Perspectives from the Heart of Bnei Brak

Backing for ending the exemption is also coming from traditional Jews outside the Haredi community, like Dorit Barak, who resides close to the academy and points to observant but non-Haredi Jews who do enlist in the army while also maintaining their faith.

"It makes me angry that ultra-Orthodox people don't serve in the army," she said. "This creates inequality. I also believe in the Jewish law, but there's a saying in Hebrew - 'Safra and Saifa' – it represents the scripture and the guns together. That's the way forward, until the days of peace."

Ms Barak manages a small memorial in Bnei Brak to fallen servicemen, both religious and secular, who were fallen in war. Lines of photographs {